MARY  LOUISA  DUNCAN  PUTNAM 
WILLIAM  CLEMENT  PUTNAM 


MARY  LOUISA  DUNCAN  PUTNAM 
WILLIAM  CLEMENT  PUTNAM 


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Elm   Grove. 


MARY  LOUISA  DUNCAN  PUTNAM 


. 


MARY  LOUISA   DUNCAN    PUTNAM. 


A   MEMOIR. 


BY    ELIZABETH    DUNCAN    PUTNAM. 


Mary  Louisa  Duncan  was  born  on  September  23rd,  1832,  in 
Greeneastle,  Pennsylvania.  She  was  the  second  child  and  eldest 
daughter  of  Joseph  Duncan  and  Elizabeth  Caldwell  Smith.  The 
family  home  was  in  Illinois,  but  Mr.  Duncan  was  in  Congress  from 
1826  to  1834.  When  the  epidemic  of  cholera  broke  out  in  Wash- 
ington in  1832  Mrs.  Duncan  sought  refuge  in  Greeneastle,  where 
some  Scotch  cousins  lived.  Shortly  after  the  birth  of  their  daugh- 
ter Mr.  and  Mrs.  Duncan  returned  to  Washington,  D.  C,  their 
home  for  the  next  two  years. 

Both  heredity  and  environment  had  a  marked  influence  on  the 
life  of  Mary  Duncan.  She  was  descended  on  both  sides  from 
Scotch  and  Huguenot  ancestors. 

Her  father  was  the  son  of  Major  Joseph  Duncan  of  Virginia, 
who  in  1790  moved  to  Paris,  Kentucky.  The  handsome  s  one 
house  that  he  built  still  stands  on  the  old  square  in  Paris.  Here 
his  son  Joseph  was  born  in  1794.  Major  Duncan  died  in  1806, 
leaving  a  widow  and  six  children.  Joseph  was  the  third  son,  but 
when  he  was  twenty-one  he  was  appointed  guardian  for  his 
younger  brothers.  When  the  war  of  18 12  broke  out  he  enlisted 
as  an  ensign.  He  was  a  man  of  great  physical  strength  and  brav- 
ery, and  these  qualities  were  often  severely  tested  during  the  war. 
One  time  he  was  the  bearer  of  dispatches  to  the  Army  of  the 
Northwest  and  was  obliged  to  go  through  the  trackless  forests, 
where  he  had  man}-  narrow  escapes,  as  the  Indians  were  friendly 
to  the  English.  He  aided  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Stephenson,  at 
Lower  Sandusky,  now  Fremont,  Ohio,  in  18 13.  Orders  had  pre- 
viously come  from  General  Harrison  to  Major  Croghan,  the  com- 
manding officer,  to  abandon  the  fort.    A  council  of  war  was  called, 

1 


and  Duncan,  as  the  youngest  officer,  was  first  asked  to  express 
his  opinion.  He  answered  decidedly  in  favor  of  defending  the  fort, 
' '  the  order  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. ' '  The  majority  were 
of  like  mind,  and  the  small  band  of  one  hundred  and  forty  men 
held  the  fort  against  several  thousand  British  and  Indians.  The 
officers  were  court-martialed  for  disobeying  orders,  but  were 
acquitted;  and  in  1834,  Congress  presented  Major  Croghan  with 
a  medal,  and  Duncan  and  the  other  officers  with  gold-mounted 
swords.  The  defeat  of  the  British  at  this  period  had  an  import- 
ant effect  upon  the  war,  preventing  their  occupancy  of  the  south- 
ern shore  of  the  lakes  and  reaching  the  supplies  at  Cleveland. 

A  few  years  after  the  war,  Joseph  Duncan  retired  from  the  army 
and  settled  in  Illinois.  He  was  soon  made  Major-General  of 
Militia,  and  later  became  a  member  of  the  State  Senate.  While 
serving  in  the  legislature  he  introduced  and  secured  the  passage, 
in  1824,  of  the  first  law  establishing  free  public  schools  in  Illinois. 
He  was  elected  to  Congress  in  1826  as  the  sole  representative  from 
Illinois  and  remained  in  the  House  of  Representatives  until  his 
election  as  Governor  of  Illinois  in  1834.  He  then  returned  to 
make  Jacksonville  his  home,  building  a  large  house  after  the 
model  of  his  Kentucky  home  and  naming  it  "Kim  Grove."  He 
served  as  Governor  for  the  next  four  years  and  advocated  many 
progressive  measures,  some  of  them  in  advance  of  his  times. 

The  mother  of  Mary  Duncan  was  Elizabeth  Caldwell  Smith, 
the  youngest  daughter  of  James  R.  Smith  and  Hannah  Caldwell. 
Mr.  Smith  came  to  this  country  as  a  poor  Scotch  lad,  and  by  his 
own  exertions  became  a  wealthy  merchant  in  New  York  City. 
He  married  Hannah,  the  second  daughter  of  the  Rev.  James  Cald- 
well, who  was  one  of  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution.  The  Cald- 
wells  were  a  Huguenot  family  who  fled  from  religious  persecution 
in  France  to  Scotland,  and  thence  came  to  Virginia.  James  Cald- 
well was  a  graduate  of  Princeton  College  and  in  1761  was  ordained 
a  Presbyterian  minister.  He  embraced  the  cause  of  liberty  with 
intense  earnestness,  preaching  to  the  troops  from  the  baggage 
wagons,  and  sometimes  with  pistols  on  his  pulpit,  so  strong  ran 
party  feeling  in  New  Jersey.  He  became  a  marked  man  to  the 
British.  His  wife,  a  daughter  of  John  Ogden,  was  shot  by  a 
British  soldier  as  the  troops  marched  through  Connecticut  Farms, 
New  Jersey.     She  was  sitting  by  her  window,  surrounded  by  nine 

2 


children  and  holding  her  baby  in  her  arms.  Shortly  after  this, 
Mr.  Caldwell  was  shot  by  an  American  sentry  who  was  supposed 
to  be  in  the  employ  of  the  British.  The  nine  orphan  children 
were  adopted  by  friends  of  the  family,  General  Lafayette  taking 
one  of  the  boys  back  to  France  and  educating  him  in  his  family. 

It  is  easy  to  realize  the  earnestness  and  strong  religious  views 
of  children  with  such  a  heritage.  Hannah  (Mrs.  Smith)  was  a 
woman  of  great  force  of  character.  She  died  when  her  daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth,  was  eighteen.  The  father  having  died  some 
years  previously,  the  home  in  New  York  was  broken  up  and  Eliz- 
abeth lived  with  her  sister,  Mrs.  Matthew  St.  Clair  Clark,  in 
Washington,  D.  C.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clark  were  noted  entertainers 
and  in  their  home  Miss  Smith  met  all  the  most  delightful  society 
of  Washington.  It  was  at  a  dinner  given  by  John  Quincy  Adams 
at  the  White  House  that  Miss  Smith  met  her  future  husband, 
Joseph  Duncan.  Henry  Clay,  who  sat  next  her  at  dinner,  spoke 
in  the  highest  terms  of  young  Duncan.  They  were  married  in 
1828  and  immediately  started  for  the  West.  Brought  up  in  the 
luxurious  homes  of  the  East,  Mrs.  Duncan  was  impressed  by  the 
crudeness  and  hardships  of  life  in  the  West,  and  has  left  some 
amusing  accounts  of  her  experiences.  Later,  when  she  came  to 
live  in  Jacksonville,  she  became  deeply  attached  to  the  people  and 
the  life  in  Illinois.  She  was  a  small,  frail  woman,  with  intense 
religious  feeling  and  great  refinement  of  manner  and  speech. 
Mrs.  Putnam,  in  the  last  year  of  her  life,  spoke  with  feeling  of 
all  she  owed  her  mother,  of  the  unconscious  influence  of  her 
simple,  perfect  manners  and  strong  religious  views  upon  the 
young,  impulsive  girl. 

The  hospitalit}'  of  the  Duncan  home  in  Jacksonville  was  un- 
bounded. There  were  no  hotels,  so  all  the  weary  travellers  and 
politicians  were  made  welcome  at  "Elm  Grove."  Here,  in  1837, 
came  Daniel  Webster  and  his  wife,  and  a  great  barbecue  was  held 
in  the  grove  near  the  house. 

Mr.  Duncan  was  devoted  to  Mary,  who  was  his  eldest  daughter, 
and  made  her  his  constant  companion,  teaching  her  to  ride  and 
taking  her  hunting  with  him.  Every  incident  left  an  indelible 
impression  upon  the  mind  of  his  daughter,  as  the  days  of  their 
companionship  were  few.  Governor  Duncan  died  suddenly  on 
January  15,  1844,  when  his  daughter  Mary  was  but  eleven  years 

3 


old.  Later,  she  never  wearied  of  telling  to  her  children  her  fath- 
er's experiences  of  frontier  life  and  impressing  upon  them  his 
strong  love  of  truth,  sincerity,  and  courage,  and  his  motto,  of 
which  her  own  life  was  a  constant  example,  "True  politeness  is 
kindly  feelings,  kindly  expressed. ' '  Through  a  correspondence  of 
nearly  fifty  years  with  members  of  her  family,  no  anniversary  of 
his  birth  or  death  is  forgotten,  and  the  Christmas  season  always 
recalled  the  joyous  carols  the  children  used  to  sing  in  the  old  hall 
at  ' '  Elm  Grove ' '  and  the  rapturous  opening  of  the  stockings  with 
original  toys  made  by  Governor  Duncan. 

After  Governor  Duncan  left  politics,  he  engaged  in  many  large 
business  enterprises.  Unfortunately,  he  signed  the  bond  of  a  man 
who  proved  a  defaulter.  This  happened  just  before  his  death. 
Had  he  lived  he  could  have  met  his  obligations  easily,  but,  as  it 
was,  a  large  portion  of  his  estate  was  sacrificed,  immense  tracts  of 
valuable  Illinois  land  selling  for  twelve  and  one-half  cents  an  acre. 

Mrs.  Duncan  was  left  with  seven  children,  but  she  courage- 
ously tried  to  meet  every  obligation.  The  family  owned  a  large 
house  and  considerable  land,  which  came  from  Mrs.  Duncan's 
estate  and  could  not  be  sold  until  the  3^oungest  child  was  of  age, 
but  there  was  little  ready  money.  During  her  girlhood  Mary 
Duncan  learned  to  do  everything  necessary  in  the  economy  of  a 
large  household.  It  was  in  the  days  when  neighbors  helped  in 
all  times  of  trouble.  We  read  in  one  old  letter,  quite  as  a  matter 
of  course,  of  the  girl  of  fourteen  "sitting  up"  all  night  with  a 
friend's  child  who  was  ill.  Dater  in  life  this  training  was  most 
valuable  and  she  was  always  a  wonderful  nurse. 

Jacksonville  was  an  unique  town.  There  was  a  delightful  min- 
gling of  the  best  New  England  settlers  brought  there  by  the 
founding  of  Illinois  College,  full  of  enthusiasm  for  a  simple,  intel- 
lectual life,  and  of  a  small  colony  of  Kentuckians,  with  their  cor- 
dial hospitality.  It  produced  a  society  which  has  preserved  its 
charm  to  this  day.  The  fine  elm-lined  streets  remind  one  of  New 
England,  but  many  of  the  houses  have  a  distinctly  Southern  air. 

A  warm  personal  friend  of  Governor  Duncan  was  Colonel  John 
J.  Hardin,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista  in  the 
Mexican  War.  Colonel  Hardin,  one  of  the  foremost  lawyers  in 
Illinois,  was  able  to  save  the  trust  fund  belonging  to  Mrs.  Dun- 
can's estate,  and  administered  the  property  so  that  there  should 

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be  money  for  the  education  of  the  children  of  his  friend.  The 
girlish  friendship  between  the  two  daughters,  Ellen  Hardin  and 
Mary  Duncan,  was  continued  through  the  many  vicissitudes  of 
their  lives.  It  was  at  the  home  of  this  friend,  who  married  a  son 
of  Chancellor  Walworth  of  New  York,  that  Mary  Duncan  met 
her  future  husband.  Mrs.  Walworth  is  still  living  in  Saratoga 
Springs  and  last  year  spoke  of  their  girlhood  in  Illinois.  School 
books  were  a  great  luxury  and  one  copy  sufficed  for  several  girls. 
There  was  intense  earnestness  in  all  they  did.  The  uncertainties 
of  life  in  those  early  days  taught  them  to  value  every  opportunity, 
and  a  deep  religious  feeling,  shown  in  the  old  yellow  letters  that 
Mrs.  Walworth  still  prizes,  permeated  the  simple,  health}-  life  of 
the  girls.  It  was  an  outdoor  life.  The  girls  had  their  saddle- 
horses  and  rode  nearly  every  day.  Both  of  them,  later  in  life,  laid 
great  stress  on  the  benefit,  physically  and  mentally,  of  this  feature 
of  their  life. 

When  Mary  Duncan  was  thirteen  she  accompanied  her  mother 
in  May,  1846,  on  a  trip  East.  It  was  a  serious  undertaking  in 
those  days.  They  visited  Mrs.  Clark  in  Washington,  who  lived 
in  a  beautiful  home  on  Lafayette  Square,  opposite  the  White 
House.  The  house  is  still  standing,  one  of  the  stateliest  of  the 
old  'mansions.  On  the  corner  nearby  lived  "  Dolly  Madison," 
the  widow  of  President  Madison.  Writing  in  1892,  from  Wash- 
ington, Mrs.  Putnam  recalls  incidents  of  her  earl}'  visit,  dinners  at 
the  President's  and  at  Daniel  Webster's,  and  the  ceremonious  life 
at  her  aunt's;  "Yet  all  this  grandeur  did  not  fill  me  with  a  desire 
for  its  long  continuance,  for  I  remember  thinking  silently  that  the 
freedom  of  my  prairie  home  was  much  sweeter.  But  I  was  enrap- 
tured with  Mrs.  Madison,— lovely  Mrs.  Madison!  It  was  a  delight 
to  us  young  people  to  pay  our  respects  to  her  very  often,  when  she 
received  us  in  turbaned  cap,  with  the  dignity  of  a  princess,  and 
with  the  urbanity  of  a  truly  loyal  American  woman.  We  do  not 
see  such  a  type  of  womanhood  now-a-days.  Another  pleasant 
memory  of  Washington,  on  a  later  visit,  was  watching  the  sculptor, 
Mills,  who  was  making  the  equestrian  statue  of  Jackson  now  in 
the  park.  I  was  also  interested  in  the  finely-trained  horse  that 
was  his  model,  which  I  used  to  see  put  through  its  paces,  in  the 
Smithsonian  grounds,  as  I  walked  across  them  to  my  uncle  Josiah 
Caldwell's." 


There  is  a  characteristic  letter  of  her's  written  during  her.  visit 
of  1846,  to  her  youngest  sister,  describing  a  May  ball  she  attended. 
It  shows  her  keen  observation  and  interest  in  people  even  at  that 
early  age.  She  writes:  "I  was  introduced  to  about  9  boys  and 
10  girls  and  I  talked  to  7  girls  that  I  did  not  know  from  Adam." 
Then,  with  the  naturalness  which  was  always  her  great  charm,  she 
advises  her  sister  to  be  good,  adding,  "I  am  very  sorry  I  was  not 
more  obedient  to  Cousin  when  I  was  at  home.  I  would  have  felt 
so  much  better  now  I  am  away."  She  always  spoke  of  this  visit 
as  marking  an  epoch  in  her  life.  It  aroused  her  ambition  to 
study  and  prepare  herself  to  take  her  place  in  the  world  that 
always  interested  her.  She  was  ever  a  believer  in  travel  as  a 
means  of  broadening  one's  view  of  life. 

In  1847  came  another  trip  to  Washington.  Mary  Duncan 
describes  the  journey  in  a  letter.  "We  went  in  the  cars  to 
Naples,  which  was  entirely  inundated.  After  spending  a  terribly 
long  day  there,  we  proceeded  on  board  the  'Prairie  State,'  the 
finest  boat  on  the  Illinois,  and  arrived  in  St.  Louis  just  in  time 
to  take  the  boat  for  Cincinnati.  Every  one  was  pleasant  on 
board,  and  we  had  good  company  within  ourselves.  ...  A  severe 
attack  of  fever  prostrated  me  on  the  second  day  of  our  leaving 
Cincinnati ; ' '  but  she  was  better  ' '  two  days  later  when  we  arrived 
at  Pittsburg  and  took  the  Brownsville  boat.  In  the  stage  across 
the  mountains  there  were  many  pleasing  incidents  that  occurred 
that  day;  but  I  defer  detailing  them  till  I  see  you  face  to  face. 
We  arrived  at  Washington  Saturday  night  as  usual,  but  what  was 
our  disappointment  at  finding  Aunt  Anna  Clark  breaking  up 
housekeeping  and  going  to  board.  So  of  course  our  visit  to  her 
was  knocked  in  the  head.  We  are  happily  situated  with  Cousin" 
[wife  of  Col.  Hamilton  of  Bladensburg,  Maryland].  "There  are 
more  negroes  collected  here  than  I  ever  saw  in  my  life."  Then 
comes  a  characteristic  touch:  "I  have  promised  30  girls  to  write." 
She  was  always  sociable! 

In  1850  Mary  Duncan  went  with  friends  to  New  Orleans, 
where  she  remained  some  weeks  for  a  very  gay  visit  with  some 
Caldwell  cousins. 

Mary  Duncan  received  her  school  education  at  Jacksonville 
Female  Academy.  The  number  of  studies  were  few,  but  they 
were  learned  with  a  thoroughness  rare  now-a-days.    She  was  for- 

6 


tunate  in  having  for  a  teacher  Miss  Eucretia  Kimball,  now  Mrs. 
Kendall,  who  came  from  an  Eastern  home  to  instruct  these  minds 
of  which  "neither  age  nor  poverty  could  blunt  their  intense 
desire  for  knowledge."  Mrs.  Kendall  is  still  living,  honored  by 
her  pupils  to  whom  she  brought  not  only  love  of  the  best  litera- 
ture, which  she  read  to  them  out  of  school  hours,  but  a  deep 
religious  faith.  Mrs.  Putnam  attributed  much  of  the  success  of 
her  life  to  the  high  aspirations  inspired  by  the  rare  personality  of 
her  beloved  teacher.  Mrs.  Kendall,  in  speaking  of  her  former 
pupil,  said  it  was  given  to  but  few  teachers  to  see  the  beginning, 
the  fulfillment,  and  the  completion  of  such  a  full  life. 

Marj'  Duncan  was  graduated  from  the  Jacksonville  Female 
Academy  in  1851  and  in  September  visited,  with  her  mother,  in 
Chicago,  having  entertainments  given  for  them  by  Mrs.  New- 
berry, Mrs.  Kinsie  and  Mrs.  Blatchford.  The  winter  was  spent 
in  nursing  a  beloved  sister,  Elizabeth,  who,  in  spite  of  all  that 
devotion  could  do,  died  in  June,  1852.  This  loss  was  followed 
two  months  later  by  the  death  of  Hannah,  a  younger  sister. 
The  family  now  consisted  only  of  Mrs.  Duncan  and  three  child- 
ren, Mary,  Julia,  and  Joseph.  In  April,  1853,  they  went  East, 
visiting  Washington,  West  Point,  and  Saratoga  Springs.  At  the 
latter  place  Mary  Duncan  met  Charles  E.  Putnam,  and  they 
became  engaged.  Mr.  Putnam  had  expected  to  practice  law  in 
New  York  City;  but  as  Mary  Duncan  had  inherited  her  father's 
strong  love  for  the  great  rolling  prairies  of  Illinois,  and  belief  in 
the  future  of  this  country,  she  persuaded  Mr.  Putnam  to  visit  the 
West.  He  located  in  Davenport,  Iowa,  in  the  spring  of  1854. 
They  were  married  December  9,  1854,  at  "Elm  Grove,"  Jackson- 
ville, Illinois.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Putnam  arrived  at  Rock  Island  on 
Saturday,  January  9,  1855,  too  late  to  cross  the  river  to  Daven- 
port. They  came  over  Sunday  morning  and  attended  church 
twice  that  day.  It  was  characteristic  of  Mrs.  Putnam  that  she 
presented  her  letter  to  the  pastor  and  was  admitted  to  the  First 
Presbyterian  Church  the  following  Sunday.  She  never  wasted 
any  time  in  indecision.  Mr.  Putnam  was  a  partner  of  Judge 
Mitchell,  a  prominent  lawyer;  but  the  times  were  hard  and  their 
income,  for  the  first  few  years,  of  the  smallest.  The  first  winter 
the  young  couple  boarded,  and  their  home  consisted  of  one  room. 
Mrs.  Putnam,  though  she  had  left  a  home  filled  with   fine  old 

7 


mahogany  furniture,  writes  most  cheerfully:  "You  don't  know 
what  a  beautiful  table  I  have  made  me,  covered  with  red  calico. 
Charlie  and  I  sit  beside  it  each  night  and  read  and  sew."  This 
first  winter  they  read  Milton's  life  and  works  and  Addison's 
works.  Mr.  Putnam  was  not  fond  of  general  society,  but  to  the 
intimate  friends  who  knew  him  in  his  own  home,  he  was  the  most 
genial  and  delightful  of  companions.  The  custom  of  spending 
the  evenings  in  reading  aloud  was  continued  throughout  their 
married  life  of  thirty-three  years.  As  the  family  grew,  the  child- 
ren brought  their  work,  drawing,  models  of  ships,  or  whatever  it 
might  be,  around  the  large  tables,  and  worked,  while  Mr.  Putnam 
read  from  the  standard  authors  in  one  of  the  richest  and  most 
melodious  of  voices. 

On  July  30,  1855,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  of  an  event  fraught  with 
great  consequences  to  Iowa:  "The  first  locomotive  that  has  ever 
puffed  its  steam  into  the  State  of  Iowa  has  just  passed  by.  You 
don't  know  what  an  excitement  there  was  all  along  this  street, 
and  indeed  all  over  Davenport,  last  week  when  the  'Antoine  L,e 
Claire'  made  its  first  visit.  The  track  is  only  laid  down  a  little 
way — that  is,  five  miles  now,  but  not  a  mile  then, — and  it  is  truly 
an  era  in  the  town  and  state.  You  see,  the  engine  is  named  for 
one  of  our  citizens,  and  his  likeness,  cast  in  bronze,  is  on  either 
side.  This,  with  a  visit  from  the  Indians,  has  added  new  life  and 
spirit  and  something  to  talk  about  the  last  three  weeks." 

At  this  time  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Putnam  were  keeping  house  in  a 
small  house  on  Fifth  street  between  Perry  and  Rock  Island  streets. 
On  October  18,  1855,  their  eldest  son  was  born  at  "Elm  Grove" 
and  named  Joseph  Duncan,  after  Mrs.  Putnam's  father.  The 
next  few  years  were  devoted  to  the  care  of  her  rapidly  increasing 
family. 

Mrs.  Putnam's  letters  reflect  her  interest  in  public  events.  A 
letter  written  to  her  mother,  January  27,  i860,  shows  strong 
feeling:  "  You  ask  what  I  think  of  our  country?  Read  Seward's 
speech  in  the  Senate — 'them's  my  sentiments;'  but  still  I  do  not 
fear  war.  God  is  a  God  of  mercy  as  well  as  justice.  Oh,  if  each 
one  of  us  would  pray  as  we  ought — lead  the  lives  we  ought  in  all 
things — God  would  avert  his  judgments.  Let  us  strive  each  to 
be  as  peaceable  and  forbearing  with  each  other  as  we  can.  No 
wonder  nations  quarrel  when  families  and  countries  don't  agree. 

8 


God  have  mercy  on  our  country,  have  mercy,  have  mercy!  He 
is  our  only  help  in  this  our  sorest  time  of  need!" 

When  the  war  was  inevitable,  Mrs.  Putnam  worked  with  her 
usual  enthusiasm  to  aid  the  soldiers.  A  letter  written  September 
26,  1861,  says:  "We  have  established  a  Soldiers'  Aid  Society 
today,  and  in  my  absence  they  appointed  me  secretary.  I  feel 
very  incompetent  to  do  my  duty  to  such  an  office  and  attend  to 
my  little  family,  but  Charlie  insists  on  my  taking  it  and  promises 
to  assist  me  all  he  can.  .  .  I  have  almost  knit  a  sock  for  the 
soldiers  since  Tuesday  night,  by  just  picking  it  up  when  riding, 
nursing  the  baby,  or  giving  orders  in  the  kitchen."  On  February 
3,  1862,  is  the  first  mention  of  any  lecture  entertainment  Mrs. 
Putnam  ever  undertook.  In  the  light  of  her  successful  work  of 
later  years,  it  is  amusing  to  read  of  the  door  receipts  of  a  lecture 
by  Dr.  Fisher,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Soldiers'  Aid  Society — cer- 
tainly a  worthy  cause — being  but  $18,  while  the  expenses  were 
$24.  "But  he  was  generous  enough  not  to  let  the  Soldiers'  Aid 
Society  lose  that.  I  had  to  work  very  hard  to  get  even  this 
money  out.  .  .  I  had  to  see  to  all  things  regarding  the  lecture 
myself  and,  depend  upon  it,  I  will  never  have  anything  to  do  with 
such  an  affair  again." 

But  when  Mrs.  Putnam's  interest  was  once  aroused  it  was  im- 
possible for  her  not  to  go  on.  In  February  there  is  a  report  of  a 
battle  and  "Mr.  Powers  has  just  been  here  and  brought  me  $50 
from  the  gentlemen.  They  raised  over  $600  yesterday  for  the 
relief  of  our  wounded.  I've  been  out  this  morning,  seeing  what 
I  could  get.  We  will  have  an  extra  meeting  tomorrow  and  next 
day,  and  work  all  we  can.  Mrs.  Rogers,  our  treasurer,  is  sick; 
Mrs.  Newcomb,  our  president,  out  of  town;  so  all  the  responsi- 
bility falls  on  me." 

Mrs.  Putnam's  interest  in  the  Academy  of  Sciences  grew  out 
of  the  love  of  her  eldest  son  and  was  so  interwoven  with  the  cur- 
rents of  her  family  life,  that  a  true  picture  of  her  could  not  be 
drawn  without  emphasizing  her  life  as  a  mother.  Her  work  for 
the  Academy  was  the  outgrowth  of  a  mother's  love  such  as  is 
rarely  seen.  She  herself,  in  alluding  to  a  proposed  life  of  her 
father,  says:  "If  you  would  write  little  home  incidents,  some 
home  characteristics,  they  after  all  make  up  the  greater  part  of  a 
man's  character  and  add  much  to  the  interest  of  a  history." 

9 


Her  own  letters  give  the  most  vivid  picture  of  her  life.  Janu- 
ary 8,  1863,  upon  receiving  the  New  York  Observer,  she  writes: 
"I  read  every  word  of  it  and  all  that  could  interest  the  children. 
The  red  ants  seem  to  take  Duncan.  Oh,  mother!  what  a  luxury 
to  have  boys  old  enough  to  appreciate  what  you  read  to  them !  I 
have  so  much  pleasure  in  watching  the  development  of  Duncan's 
mind.  My  whole  days  are  spent  in  instructing,  playing  with,  and 
keeping  the  children  clean.  I  sew  scarcely  a  stitch  and  fear  my 
industry  will  flag;  however,  I  never  was  so  busy  in  my  life — or 
more  happy."  Mrs.  Putnam  fitted  up  a  school  room  in  her  house 
and  for  several  years  taught  the  older  children  each  morning. 

The  summer  of  1863  was  spent  in  Saratoga  Springs.  Mrs. 
Putnam  had  recently  become  interested  in  the  works  of  Froebel 
and  began  giving  the  children  object-lessons  from  nature.  On 
January  11,  1864,  she  writes:  ' '  Duncan  astonished  his  father  and 
me  by  his  questions.  I  fear  to  have  him  learn  to  read, — still  let 
him  say  his  lessons  to  me  daily.  Indeed,  I  do  little  else  but  teach 
manners,  morals,  reading,  spelling,  geography,  and  Bible  from 
morning  till  night.  .  .  I  feel  rewarded,  as  I  go  around  and  seal 
the  foreheads  with  a  mother's  sacred  kiss,  for  all  my  toil  and 
care,  and  would  not  exchange  my  lot  for  that  of  the  most  idle 
woman  in  the  world.  A  young  lady  visiting  here  said  I  had  the 
most  delightful  home  in  Davenport.  I  felt  it  was  indeed  the 
truth." 

And  again,  on  March  9,  1866:  "There  is  not  an  hour  I  spend 
with  my  children,  in  their  instruction  and  improvement,  that  I 
am  not  triply  rewarded.  ...  I  had  28  to  dinner  last  Saturday. 
We  had  our  bees  robbed  one  night  last  week  and  the  boxes 
broken  up  and  the  little  helpless  things  scattered  everywhere.  I 
gathered  them  up  next  day  and  was  badly  stung  for  my  pains. 
I  suffered  very  much,  but  could  I  have  saved  my  bees,  I  would 
not  have  cared.     They  are  all  dead." 

On  February  27,  1864,  L,ouis  Agassiz  lectured  in  Davenport. 
Mrs.  Putnam  writes  of  spending  the  morning  in  reading  about 
glaciers.  It  was  characteristic  of  her  to  the  end  of  her  life  to  pre- 
pare herself  so  as  to  appreciate  and  understand  any  new  subject. 
She  availed  herself  of  all  the  opportunities  that  came  to  her. 
She,  with  her  son  Duncan,  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Agassiz 
later  at  Mr.  Hirschl's. 

10 


In  May,  1863,  the  family  moved  to  a  beautiful  country  home, 
"  Woodlawn,"  about  two  miles  from  the  center  of  the  town,  on 
a  bluff  overlooking  the  Mississippi  River.  The  place  of  eighteen 
acres  was  laid  out  by  Mr.  Mackenzie,  an  Englishman,  in  a  com- 
bination of  lawn  and  wild  woods.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Putnam 
became  interested  in  horticulture,  their  enthusiasm  being  shown 
by  the  purchase  of  technical  books  as  well  as  by  the  planting  of  an 
orchard,  garden,  and  vineyard.     Here  was  founded  an  ideal  home. 

Mrs.  Putnam  led  an  active  outdoor  life  superintending  the  gar- 
den and  grounds,  encouraging  her  sons  to  be  interested  in  all  the 
affairs  of  the  place.  She  was  their  companion  in  all  things.  She 
learned  to  swim,  with  five  of  her  sons.  For  some  years  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Putnam  attended  a  class  in  a  gymnasium  in  town,  often  walk- 
ing the  four  miles  there  and  back  in  the  evening.  This  outdoor 
life  was  what  gave  her  the  strength  to  carry  out  her  plans  and 
accomplish  her  great  work  in  life. 

On  Thanksgiving  Day,  1865,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  ' '  To  one  and 
all  the  dear  ones  at  home  I  send  greetings  on  this  our  first  great 
Thanksgiving  Day,  the  grandest  day  of  thanks  our  country  has 
ever  known;  freedom  in  the  letter  as  well  as  in  the  spirit;  uni- 
versal hope  and  renewed  hope  and  renewed  life  to  our  land. 
Proud  am  I  that  I  am  American-born,  proud  to  have  six  sons  to 
claim  this  glorious  country  as  their  native  land;  while  my  heart 
swells  with  pride  of  land  and  country,  my  hands  are  busy  about 
the  ordinary  affairs  of  life;  and  while  my  heart  yearns  over  my 
children  and  their  future,  their  present  wants  of  bread  and  butter 
and  clothing  press  heavily  upon  me,  and  I  cannot  spare  the  time 
even  to  jot  down  all  my  thoughts  and  aspirations  for  them." 

The  years  passed  swiftly  in  the  home  life,  and  in  attending  to  a 
large  household,  with  many  guests  coming  and  going.  The  sur- 
plus of  the  large  garden  was  sent  to  friends.  Neighbors  tell  of 
how  Mrs.  Putnam  would  stop  and  distribute  flowers  and  fruit  to 
the  children  as  she  drove  to  town.  There  was  no  pleasure  to  her 
in  having  things  unless  shared  with  others.  Even  in  the  first  year 
of  their  housekeeping,  in  1855,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  of  supplying 
the  whole  neighborhood  with  fresh  vegetables  from  their  tiny 
garden;  and  again  in  September,  1872,  she  writes:  "We  have 
so  many  pears  and  grapes  that  I  want  every  one  to  come  and 
enjoy   the  place,    the  fruit,    and   every  thing,  while   I  have  so 

11 


much.  I  have  entertained,  I  believe,  one  hundred  people  at  least 
this  summer,  a  few  at  a  time." 

These  years  were  probably  the  happiest  of  Mrs.  Putnam's  life. 
She  writes  in  1871:  "I  am  sitting  in  my  conservatory,  sur- 
rounded by  my  beautiful  flowers,  God's  special  gifts.  .  .  .  Life 
seems  so  gay  and  beautiful." 

In  1872  came  a  terrible  scourge  of  scarlet  fever;  eight  children 
were  ill  at  one  time,  and  the  eighth  son,  Hamilton,  died.  This 
was  the  first  break  in  the  family  circle. 

The  next  winter,  1872-3,  a  printing  press  was  purchased,  and 
the  older  boys  began  printing  a  magazine,  The  Star  of  Woodlawn, 
and  other  papers.  A  finely  equipped  carpenter  shop  facilitated 
the  making  of  canoes  and  sailing  boats.  Theatricals  were  given 
during  the  winter  for  several  years,  on  a  regularly  equipped  stage, 
with  drop  curtain  and  all  the  accessories.  There  were  historical 
societies,  where  original  papers  were  read  every  week,  a  stamp 
company,  and  a  juvenile  savings  bank.  Everything  was  done  to 
encourage  the  children  to  develop  plans  and  carry  them  out  suc- 
cessfully. The  parents  believed  also  in  recreation  and  provided 
a  billiard  table,  riding  horses,  and  all  the  outdoor  sports.  Mrs. 
Putnam  writes,  in  July,  1873,  urging  her  mother  to  visit  her  and 
"let  a  little  of  the  full  glow  of  happiness  that  so  fills  my  heart 
and  life  to  overflowing  flow  into  yours,  and  feel  the  full  influence 
of  the  buoyant  young  life  that  so  fills  this  household." 

In  the  fall  of  1873  the  eldest  son,  Duncan,  returned  from  an 
expedition  to  the  Yellowstone  under  the  command  of  Captain 
Jones.  It  had  been  thought  that  the  outdoor  life  would  strengthen 
him  so  that  he  could  go  to  Harvard;  but  he  returned  with  a  severe 
cold,  which,  during  the  next  winter,  developed  into  tuberculosis. 
It  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  battle  for  life,  lasting  eight  years. 
Out  of  the  shadow  of  this  sorrow,  Mrs.  Putnam  came  a  stronger 
but  an  older  woman.  The  gay  and  joyous  note  of  the  letters  has 
gone  to  return  no  more. 

The  letters  tell  their  own  story,  December  1,  1873:  "The 
Doctor  says  Duncan  is  not  able  to  study  or  go  to  college  for 
years,  if  ever.  We  have  talked  the  matter  over  deliberately,  my 
husband  and  I.  I  feel  that  we  must  make  every  sacrifice  to 
accomplish  [his  restoration  to  health]." 

January    1,    1874:       "Tomorrow    night  the  children  will  go 

12 


through  their  play  of  William  Tell.  Mr.  Putnam  insists  on  mak- 
ing the  home  lively  and  pleasant  for  Duncan  as  long  as  he  is  with 
us.  It  will  be  absolutely  necessary  to  send  him  away  from  home, 
and  very  soon.  He  had  a  hemorrhage  in  the  street  the  day  before 
yesterday,  which  alarmed  us  all  very  much." 

January  21,  1874:  "I  leave  Duncan  scarcely  a  moment  night 
or  day.  His  father  sits  with  him  sometimes  while  I  do  some 
errands.  I  don't  know  what  to  do  with  him.  If  he  sits  still  he 
reads  Huxley  and  Darwin  and  all  the  other  brain-splitting  books 
you  ever  heard  of — says  histories  are  almost  as  heavy  and  stupid 
as  novels.  He  was  actually  relieved  when  we  'were  through 
David  Copperfield.     I  suppose  while  he  lives  he  will  work." 

January  30,  1874:  "Duncan  is  anxious  to  go  with  Dr.  Parry 
to  Utah  next  summer,  as  it  is  on  the  desert  and  near  the  mount- 
ains, so  he  can  catch  all  kinds  of  bugs.  Oh,  that  God  would 
spare  his  life  that  he  may  fulfill  his  great  promise.  .  .  I've  been 
setting  type  to-day.  George  and  I  run  races  which  can  distrib- 
ute the  fastest.  I  am  learning  lots  about  printing  and  becoming 
fascinated  with  the  work." 

February  4,  1874,  a  letter  to  her  mother:  "Duncan  has  been 
very  ill.  I  have  had  no  heart  to  write.  To-day  he  is  back  in  his 
bug  room  which  makes  him  and  me  more  cheerful.  This  is  the 
fourteenth  hemorrhage  in  six  days.  I  have  not  left  Duncan  a 
moment  day  or  night;  how  long  I  can  hold  out  I  don't  know. 
Pray  for  me  and  mine,  dear  mother. 

"Your  loving  child,  Mary." 

February  15,  1874:  "Yesterday  I  took  Duncan  to  spend  the 
day  with  Mr.  Pratt;  he  afterwards  went  to  the  Horticultural 
Society,  and  they  made  him  Secretary  pro  tern.  I  went  up  for 
him  there.  He  was  such  a  boy,  writing  the  minutes  of  the  meet- 
ings, surrounded  by  gray-headed  men.  He  the  only  child  in  the 
midst  and  doing  the  hardest  work.  However,  it  interested  him 
and  I  cannot  see  that  it  hurt  him  any." 

March  5:  "...  I  have  been  setting  type  to-day,  so  has  Dun- 
can. The  boys  have  printed  off  my  piece — I  set  every  word  of  it 
myself." 

On  March  18,  1874,  the  eleventh  child  and  tenth  son  was  born. 
A  few  weeks  afterwards,  when  Mrs.  Putnam  was  driving  with 
her  son  Duncan,  the   horse  became  frightened   and  ran.     Mrs. 

13 


Putnam  was  thrown  out,  striking  the  sciatic  nerve.  She  was 
unable  to  move  for  weeks,  and  never  fully  recovered  from  this 
injury.  In  September  of  this  year  she  joined  her  son  in  Colo- 
rado. A  month  was  spent  most  delightfully  in  camping  in  a  log 
cabin  at  Empire  City.  Five  children  were  with  her  and  five  were 
left  in  Davenport.  Two  botanists,  Dr.  Engelmann  and  Dr.  Parry, 
were  collecting  in  the  mountains.  They,  with  their  wives  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ballord  of  Davenport,  made  a  pleasant  party  that 
gathered  nightly  around  the  fire  of  pine  knots  in  the  cabin. 

Mrs.  Putnam  returned  home  in  September,  leaving  Duncan  to 
spend  the  winter  in  Canon  City.  During  this  winter  Mrs.  Put- 
nam read  all  his  lessons  to  her  third  son,  John,  whose  eyes  began 
to  trouble  him.  It  was  through  her  eyes  that  he  was  enabled  to 
graduate  with  honors  from  the  High  School.  One  wonders  where 
she  ever  found  the  time  to  accomplish  all  she  did.  Her  house- 
hold cares  were  always  arranged  so  that  there  was  time  to  be 
with  the  children,  when  out  of  school.  She  had  the  great  gift  of 
realizing  what  was  the  most  important  thing  to  be  done.  She 
wasted  no  time  over  the  non-essentials. 

On  February  4,  1875,  comes  a  record  of  the  first  effort  to  raise 
money  for  the  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  the  beginning  of 
almost  exactly  twenty-eight  years  of  work  for  the  association.  At 
the  time  Mrs.  Putnam  was  forty-three  years  old,  the  mother  of  ten 
living  children,  and  with  the  multiplied  cares  of  a  large  family 
and  a  wide  social  circle,  she  would  have  been  entitled  to  retire 
from  active  work.  But  the  voice  of  her  eldest  son,  an  exile  for 
his  health,  came  to  her,  urging  her  to  do  something  "to  make 
the  Academy  popular."  She  writes  to  a  friend,  speaking  of 
one  subscription  already  received:  "If  all  the  patrons  of  the 
library  were  as  liberal  to  the  Academy,  I  will  not  have  more  to 
do  to  get  my  $500  than  I  can  do  with  my  hands  thus  tied  with 
my  sick  children.  Why  should  not  the  two  institutions  work 
side  by  side  and  be  one  in  spirit  as  they  are  in  fact,  each  strug- 
gling for  the  advancement  of  knowledge  in  our  midst,  each  help- 
ing on  to  the  investigation  of  truth,  could  they  not  be  made  a 
crown  of.  glory  to  our  town?' '  A  hope  which  is  at  last  being 
realized. 

On  February  11,  1875,  her  youngest  child,  Berthoud,  died. 
This  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  Mrs.  Putnam.     She  writes  of  how 

14 


empty  her  life  seemed,  the  first  time  for  twenty  years  that  there 
was  not  a  baby  in  the  house,  to  be  the  first  consideration.  Those 
who  knew  Mrs.  Putnam  can  see  how  naturally  grew  her  interest 
in  the  Academy,  which  she  would  sometimes  laughingl)T  call  her 
twelfth  child. 

Mrs.  Putnam  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Davenport  Academy 
of  Sciences  June  2,  1869,  at  the  same  time  her  son  Duncan,  a  boy 
of  thirteen,  was  elected.  He  had  been  interested  in  the  Academy 
almost  from  its  beginning  and  insisted  that  his  mother  must 
become  a  member  at  the  same  time.  She  was  the  first  woman 
member.  The  Academy  had  been  organized  on  December  14, 
1867,  by  four  men.  The  meetings  had  been  held  in  various  offices 
until,  in  1868,  a  "very  liberal  offer  was  received  and  accepted 
from  the  Young  Men's  Library  Association  to  have  the  Academy 
deposit  its  cabinet  and  hold  its  meetings  in  the  Library  rooms, 
corner  of  Second  and  Brady  streets."  It  may  be  noticed  that  the 
singular  noun  covers  the  extent  of  the  museum.  Here  the  "cab- 
inet" remained  in  a  dark  corner  until  the  fall  of  1872,  when  the 
meetings  were  held  for  some  time  in  the  law  office  of  Putnam  & 
Rogers.  Mrs.  Putnam  never  made  any  pretense  to  being  a  sci- 
entist herself,  but  she  frequently  accompanied  Mr.  Pratt  and  Dun- 
can on  their  Saturday  excursions  for  shells  and  insects. 

In  March,  1875,  Mrs.  Putnam,  assisted  by  other  ladies,  furn- 
ished the  bare  Academy  room  with  matting,  shades,  and  cases. 
A  letter  of  June  2,  1875,  to  Mrs.  Parry,  tells  of  further  work  : 
' '  Duncan  and  I  attended  together  the  Academy  meeting  the  other 
evening.  .  .  There  was  a  large  attendance,  and  Duncan  seemed 
wonderfully  pleased  with  the  looks  of  things  and  the  large 
donations  sent  in.  .  .  I  presented  eleven  ladies'  names  [for  mem- 
bership] the  other  night;  this  will  make  twelve.  The  cases  look 
so  nice,  and  many  other  things  are  waiting  to  be  arranged;  Dun- 
can's collection  fills  one-half  a  case."  Then,  with  a  prophetic 
look  to  the  future,  she  continues:  "  I  wish  we  had  a  fire-proof 
building.  .  .  I  wish  the  Doctor  could  induce  some  of  those  rich 
societies  East  to  send  us  $1,000  as  a  nest  egg  to  secure  some  prop- 
erty here  for  that  purpose;  now  while  the  enthusiasm  is  freshly 
awakened  we  must  not  let  it  die  out  until  something  is  done.  I 
like  the  plan  of  endowing  the  institution  so  as  to  secure  some  one 
to  spend  all  of  his  time  there,  making  exchanges,  etc." 

15 


On  September  2,  1875,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  "  Duncan  thinks 
the  Academy  has  at  last  done  something  in  that  it  has  sent  Dr. 
Farquharson  to  Detroit.  Well,  I,  too,  have  found  anew  interest 
in  the  Academy  in  that  it  has  resolved  itself  into  a  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society.  There  is  an  old  man,  Captain  Hall,  very  much 
interested  in  the  Academy,  who  goes  up  and  down  the  river  in 
his  boat  every  day  and  he  has  a  locker  in  there  filled  with  Sunday 
School  books  for  the  little  children  all  along  the  shore,  and  when 
the}'  see  him  coming  they  run  down  to  the  shore  with  their  stone 
axes  and  arrows  and  give  them  to  Uncle  Hall — so  he  brings  in 
many  things  every  few  days  to  the  Academy,  and  for  these  he 
has  distributed  460  books  to  the  children  in  the  last  three  months. 
Now,  my  dear  mother,  where  can  you  find  a  nobler  work?  All 
the  parents  of  these  children  are  going  to  visit  the  Academy  thro' 
Fair  week  and  we  expect  to  interest  them  to  bring  in  many 
more  things,"  a  hope  which  was  realized,  for  on  October  31st 
there  is  mention  in  a  morning  paper  of  a  long  list  of  donations  to 
the  Academy.  For  years  afterwards  Mrs.  Putnam  collected 
Bibles,  old  school  books,  illustrated  papers,  money,  and  groceries 
to  give  to  Captain  Hall.  It  is  largely  due  to  his  efforts  that  the 
Academy  has  one  of  the  finest  collections  of  Mound-builders' 
relics  and  ancient  pottery  from  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  country  was  deeply  interested  in  the  Centennial  celebra- 
tion, which  was  to  occur  in  1876.  Women  were  urged  to  send 
samples  of  their  handiwork  to  the  "  Woman's  Pavilion  "  at  Phil- 
adelphia. The  enthusiasm  of  the  women  of  Davenport  was 
diverted  into  a  new  channel,  which  has  had  ever  widening  influ- 
ences and  has  been  of  inestimable  benefit  to  the  town.  We  read 
of  the  beginning  of  the  Centennial  Association  in  a  letter  from 
Mrs.  Putnam  to  Mrs.  C.  C.  Parry,  written  September  17th,  1875: 
"  .  .  We  had  a  most  enthusiastic  meeting  yesterday  of  the  ladies. 
I  was  so  tired  last  night  I  could  not  sleep,  what  with  shopping, 
making  calls  in  the  morning,  arranging  about  my  grapes,  send- 
ing to  Rock  Island  for  the  young  ladies,  having  them  to  tea, 
going  up  immediately  after  to  a  lecture  on  the  Mind  ...  I  won- 
der I  don't  feel  more  tired  today,  but  I  don't.  Our  Academy 
rooms  look  lovely.  Mrs.  Silsbee,  Mrs.  Price,  and  Mrs.  Clark  sent 
flowers.  ...  It  seems  to  have  been  well  understood  that  the 
meeting  was  called  in  behalf  of  friends  of  the  Academy  and  most 

16 


noble  was  the  response  and  enthusiasm.  Mrs.  Potter  took  the 
chair,  and  I  made  a  speech  about  the  necessities  of  the  Academy, 
and  its  great  work.  I  think  it  was  a  little  'stumpy,'  but  upon  a 
vote  being  taken  whether  such  an  organization  for  the  Centen- 
nial, having  the  Academy  as  its  legitimate  finale  should  be  had, 
a  most  enthusiastic  'aye'  was  responded.  .  .  .  About  30  ladies 
were  present."  The  effects  of  this  meeting  were  far-reaching  in 
the  history  of  the  Academy.  The  Ladies'  Centennial  Association 
published  the  first  volume  of  Proceedings. 

We  can  realize  the  interest  women  were  taking  in  the  Aeademy 
when  out  of  a  list  of  eighty-three  new  members  this  year,  we  find 
forty-three  were  women,  all  personal  friends  of  Mrs.  Putnam,  so 
it  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  their  interest  originated.  She  was 
succeeding  in  "  making  the  Academy  popular." 

On  November  26,  1875,  J.  Duncan  Putnam  introduced  a  res- 
olution at  a  meeting  of  the  Academy  to  publish  the  Proceed- 
ings, giving  the  following  reasons:  "1.  It  will  preserve  much 
material  that  might  otherwise  be  lost.  2.  It  will  furnish  greater 
incentive  to  our  members  to  make  original  investigations.  3.  It 
will  increase  the  library  by  means  of  exchange  with  other  socie- 
ties and  publishers.  4.  It  will  place  us  on  a  creditable  footing 
with  the  other  societies  of  the  world."  It  was  voted  to  publish 
them,  and  on  December  20,  1875,  the  offer  of  the  Indies'  Centen- 
nial Association  to  print  the  Proceedings  was  accepted  by  the 
Board  of  Trustees. 

To  raise  the  money  necessary  was  a  serious  undertaking  in 
those  dajTs.  We  read  in  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Putnam  to  Mrs.  Parry, 
December  29,  1875:  "We  want  to  have  a  grand  entertainment 
the  22nd  of  February;  hope  to  make  $200  clear.  I  have  been 
successful  in  raising,  from  the  Academy  gentlemen  mostly,  the 
sum  of  $183  for  publishing  fund.  I  promised  $200.  ...  I  have 
had  some  amusing  experiences  in  studying  human  nature  this 
winter  and  am  more  astonished  than  I  can  tell  you  at  opposi- 
tion to  this  project  from  sources  little  expected.  .  .  .  The  Acad- 
emy men  are  working  right  hard  to  get  their  Proceedings  read)-. 
We  want  the  book  to  be  Centennial  and  worthy  our  city.  .  .  . 
Nothing  but  the  publication  keeps  him  [Duncan]  alive.  He  and 
Mr.  Pratt  visit  the  engravers,  go  after  the  drawings  of  axes,  flints, 
arrowheads,  etc.    He  gets  up  town  to  the  Academy  rooms  every 

17 


day,  most  always  twice  a  day.  There  are  more  visitors  there  in 
one  day  now  than  there  used  to  be  in  weeks." 

On  January  8,  1876,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  "We  had  quite 
a  meeting  of  our  Centennial  ladies  who  are  to  appoint  committees 
for  our  next  entertainment  on  Monday  next.  I  get  out  of  all 
these  duties  by  raising  $200  from  the  members  and  others.  .  .  . 
The  ladies  voted  $100  of  their  money  and  are  going  to  raise 
money  to  the  amount  of  $600,  with  my  $200,  and  assume  the  pub- 
lication. We  have  a  board  consisting  of  Mrs.  Magonegal,  Mrs. 
McCullough,  Mrs.  vSanders,  and  myself  to  look  after  the  publica- 
tion; having  already,  (or  rather  Duncan  and  Mr.  Pratt  have) 
received  offers  from  several  engravers  and  publishers;  and  we  can 
have  about  25  pages  of  engravings  and  wood  cuts  for  about  $200. 
.   .   .  I^et  our  Centennial  issue  be  worthy  the  name." 

February  9,  1876:  "We  are  having  a  lively  time  over  commit- 
tee meetings,  etc.,  .  .  .  and  lots  of  nice  things  are  happening  for 
the  Academy  every  day." 

The  Centennial  Association  planned  an  elaborate  series  of  enter- 
tainments to  raise  the  sum  of  $600.  The  first  entertainment  on 
February  22,  1876,  was  very  successful;  but  in  the  early  hours 
of  the  following  morning  the  building  in  which  it  was  held  was 
destroyed  by  fire,  occasioning  losses  of  about  $1000  to  persons  who 
had  loaned  articles  for  the  entertainment.  The  association  felt 
bound  to  repay  these.  The  first  pages  of  the  Proceedings  have 
been  started,  but  the  Academy,  on  February  25,  passed  a  resolu- 
tion of  thanks  and  sympathy  and  suggested  the  postponing  of  the 
publication.     The  women  courageously  refused. 

On  March  10,  1876,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  "We  undertook  a 
great  enterprise  and  have  done  wonderfully  well  indeed.  I  never 
heard  of  anything  like  it.  We  have  raised  at  least  $1500  in  a  lit- 
tle over  two  weeks;  paid  off  our  debt,  and  have  on  hand  $365  for 
our  book.  I  have  devoted  hours  every  day  to  the  work  and  hope 
my  labors  are  over." 

March  17:  "I  have  been  led  into  more  public  life  than  I  think 
either  agreeable  or  necessary  of  late  and  feel  very  happy  to  retire 
into  private  obscurity  of  home  again.  I  attended  the  last  meeting 
of  our  Centennial  Society  Wednesday,  and  audited  all  the  accounts. 
In  three  weeks  we  have  raised  enough  money  to  pay  all  debts 
incurred  by  the  fire,  $1000,  and  have  $450  left  in  the  bank  for 

18 


publishing  our  book.  The  citizens  have  expressed  great  sym- 
pathy and  done  a  great  deal  for  us.  I  shall  devote  myself  to  my 
garden  this  summer."  She  also  writes  at  this  time  of  reading 
his  lessons  to  her  son  John,  for  three  hours  a  day,  and  to  the 
children  two  hours  every  evening.  An  old  list,  kept  by  one  of 
the  children,  shows  an  astonishing  array  of  books  read  to  them 
by  Mrs.  Putnam:  —  histories,  travels,  Scott's  novels;  and  four 
times  did  she  read  aloud  to  successive  groups  of  children  the  una- 
bridged edition  of  Robinson  Crusoe,  not  omitting  the  religious 
discourses. 

March  27,  1876,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  to  Mr.  Parry:  .  .  .  "If 
you  have  received  the  late  dailies  you  must  be  pretty  well  posted 
as  to  what  all  my  outside  life  has  been  these  last  busy  weeks,  but 
they  tell  not  half  the  story;  how  through  discouragements  we 
have  come  out  victorious.  Even  fire  could  not  quench  our  zeal, 
and  never  for  a  moment  have  I  felt  with  some  that  we  must  post- 
pone our  work  of  publishing.  .  .  .  They  are  thinking  of  form- 
ing classes  in  the  Academy  and  letting  those  interested  in  special 
subjects  meet  together  and  report  to  the  Academy.  Duncan  is 
urging  this  very  much,  and  will  take  the  chairmanship  of  the 
zoological  department.  .  .  .  You  never  knew  anything  like  the 
warmth  and  sympathy  every  one  has  expressed  for  our  misfor- 
tunes." The  Bric-a-Brac  Club  gave  a  loan  entertainment  which 
helped  materially  to  pay  the  debt  caused  by  the  fire. 

In  August  of  this  year  Baron  Charles  R.  von  der  Osten  Sacken, 
a  distinguished  Russian  entomologist,  visited  "  Woodlawn  "  to 
meet  the  young  entomologist,  Duncan.  He  has  been  an  honored 
friend  of  the  family  ever  since  and  has  contributed  a  scientific 
paper  to  this  Memorial  volume.  He  was  one  of  many  who  showed 
their  appreciation  of  the  remarkable  work  done  by  the  invalid 
boy,  self-taught,  working  out  his  ideas  alone  in  this  Western 
town,  far  from  the  influence  and  help  of  college  or  museum.  His 
work  was  done  with  such  thoroughness  that  to-day,  after  a  lapse 
of  twenty-five  years,  it  is  still  the  authority  in  the  lines  of  work 
he  took  up. 

In  September,  1876,  Mrs.  Putnam  and  her  son  took  the  first 
copy  of  the  Proceedings  to  Philadelphia  and  placed  it  in  the  Pavil- 
ion at  the  Centennial  as  a  sample  of  woman's  work  in  a  Western 
town.     They  then  went  to  Washington,  where  Professor  Henry, 


Secretary  of  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  became  so  interested  in 
the  work  of  the  Academy  that  he  placed  its  name  among  the  first 
on  the  list  of  foreign  exchanges  for  scientific  books.  On  October 
14  the  Publishing  Committee  of  the  Ladies'  Centennial  Society 
reports  "Vol.  1,  published  by  them,  as  now  complete  and  placed 
at  the  disposal  of  the  Academy."  Nine  hundred  and  ninety  copies 
were  received;  two  hundred  and  fifty  were  distributed  to  sub- 
scribers and  four  hundred  and  fifty-six  to  the  scientific  societies. 
The  volume  received  praise  from  all  parts  of  the  world  from  those 
interested  in  the  progress  of  science. 

A  rather  detailed  account  has  been  given  of  the  publication  of 
the  first  volume,  because  it  was  a  unique  enterprise  for  women 
and  also  because  it  accounts  for  Mrs.  Putnam's  future  interest  in 
the  publication,  an  interest  that  continued  through  her  life,  and 
by  her  endowment  will  go  on  in  perpetuit)^. 

At  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Mrs.  Putnam,  a  few  months  later, 
on  February  22,  1877,  her  old  friend,  Mrs.  Patience  Veile  New- 
comb,  gave  a  lot  on  Brady  Street  to  the  Academy  of  Sciences, 
' '  To  show  my  appreciation  of  its  worthy  objects  and  because  of 
the  great  regard  I  entertain  for  my  young  friend  J.  Duncan  Put- 
nam, and  my  admiration  of  the  noble  work  he  is  doing  in  its 
behalf."  Plans  to  build  were  at  once  commenced.  Mrs.  Put- 
nam and  Mrs.  Sanders  were  elected  on  March  6,  1877,  a  commit- 
tee to  procure  subscriptions  for  a  new  building.  The  required 
amount  was  raised  by  Mrs.  Putnam,  Mrs.  Sanders  being  unable 
to  act. 

A  "Kettle  Drum"  entertainment  was  given  in  July,  1877,  at 
"  Woodlawn  "  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Putnam  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Academy.  Between  seven  and  eight  hundred  people  were  pres- 
ent. It  was  a  perfect  summer's  night,  and  it  was  the  most  suc- 
cessful fete  ever  given  for  charity  in  Davenport.  The  amount 
realized,  eight  hundred  dollars,  was  so  encouraging  that  two  days 
later  the  committee  on  building  reported  in  favor  of  erecting  "a 
plain  and  unpretentious  edifice,  sufficiently  large  for  the  present 
needs  of  the  Academy  but  not  so  large  as  to  leave  it  in  debt." 

The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  October  4,  1877,  and  on  February 
22,  1878,  a  year  from  the  gift  of  the  lot,  the  new  building  was 
opened  to  the  public.  There  were  on  exhibition  an  art  collec- 
tion, copper  implements  from  Wisconsin,  eight  microscopes,  and 

20 


a  beautiful  collection  of  butterflies.  Though  the  admission  fee 
was  but  twenty-five  cents,  the  net  proceeds  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  The  Ferry  Company,  through  the  interest  of 
Captain  Robinson,  a  lifelong  friend  of  the  Academy,  carried  all 
ticket-holders  free  from  Rock  Island,  which  shows  the  universal 
interest  felt  in  the  starting  of  this  little  institution. 

In  January,  1878,  an  Art  Association  was  organized  and  held 
its  meetings  in  the  Academy  building.  The  society  existed  for 
several  years,  holding  a  number  of  exhibitions.  It  was  always 
an  earnest  desire  of  Mrs.  Putnam's  that  the  fine  arts  should  have 
a  place  in  the  Academy's  work,  and  that  the  Academy  should  be 
an  institution  for  the  broadest  culture. 

On  August  4,  1878,  there  is  mention  of  future  work.  "I  have 
had  the  circular  room  in  the  basement  finished;  it  does  look  so 
beautiful,  and  will  give  us  room  for  all  the  curiosities  we  can  col- 
lect. I  have  had  the  lathes,  nails,  and  sand  given  to  me,  and  I 
had  enough  money  in  the  bank,  left  from  the  festival,  to  pay  for 
the  work;  so  now  I  have  accomplished  what  I  started  out  to  do" 
(a  statement  true  of  her  whole  life).  Mrs.  Putnam  often  spoke 
of  laborers  volunteering  to  give  a  day's  work  to  help  build  this 
institution,  and  took  pride  in  the  development  of  the  Academy 
from  such  small  beginnings. 

Mrs.  Putnam  was  elected  President  of  the  Academy  on  January 
1,  1879.  It  was  an  honor  she  always  deeply  appreciated.  Dr. 
Parry,  in  nominating  Mrs.  Putnam  as  President,  said:  "It  is 
quite  unnecessary  to  explain  to  any  one  here  present  that  the 
actual  success  and  present  prosperity  of  the  Academy  has  been 
coincident  with  the  interest  taken  in  it  by  women.  It  was  a 
Women's  Centennial  Association  that  first  inaugurated  and  suc- 
cessfully carried  out  the  publication  of  the  Proceedings,  on  which 
more  than  on  any  other  one  thing  the  scientific  character  and 
standing  of  the  Academy  abroad  has  been  firmly  established. 
The  very  ground  beneath  our  feet  is  the  spontaneous  gift  of  a 
generous  woman  and  this  commodious  building,  which  affords  us 
a  permanent  home,  from  lowest  foundation  stone  to  highest  roof- 
crest,  if  not  the  direct  work  of  woman's  hand,  has  been  wrought 
out  and  completed  under  the  inspiring  influence  of  woman's 
heart." 

The  years  were  full  of  busy  plans  to  raise  money  for  the  Acad- 

21 


emy,  of  which  we  have  no  record,  except  the  occasional  mention 
in  the  Proceedings  of  the  proceeds  of  a  lecture  or  entertainment. 
An  unfinished  letter  which  survived  the  destruction  of  "Wood- 
lawn  ' '  gives  a  picture  of  what  work  these  entertainments  entailed. 
It  was  written  just  after  a  concert  given  by  Sherwood  on  May 
23»  J879:  "From  day  to  day  I  haunted  the  editorial  chairs, 
buttonholed  the  local  editors,  made  journeys  to  Rock  Island  and 
back  again,  had  tickets  printed  at  one  office,  placards  at  another, 
and  the  programmes  at  a  third.  These  tickets  I  was  very  judi- 
cious with,  giving  some  fifty  to  the  editors,  and  about  as  many 
more  to  music  teachers  and  those  promising  to  interest  their 
pupils.  The  placards  I  took  to  Rock  Island,  left  them  with  a 
friend  who  saw  four  of  them  put  in  the  street  cars.  (We  sold 
four  tickets  in  Rock  Island) ....  The  other  placards  I  took  in 
my  buggy  and  put  in  front  of  windows,  and  sent  John  to  street  car 
lines  to  have  others  put  in  cars.  This  was  no  small  part  of  the 
work,  for  the  next  morning  after  leaving  them  they  did  not 
appear;  so  I  had  to  see  first  one  driver  and  then  another  about  it. 
At  last  Sherwood  was  fully  understood  to  be  coming.  You  could 
not  lift  your  eyes  along  the  principal  streets  that  'Sherwood,  the 
greatest  pianist  in  America,  Burtis  Opera  House,  May  23,'  did 
not  meet  )^our  eye.  These  immense  placards  haunt  my  memory. 
Then  the  programmes:  how  to  get  them  up  was  at  first  a  mystery 
tome.  .  .  .  They  were  to  be  dainty  and  unique.  .  .  .  The 'opin- 
ions of  the  press,'  which  the  agent  sent  me,  had  been  placed  in 
the  hands  of  the  local  editor  to  make  extracts  from  day  by  day, 
and  which  by  the  way  he  never  used.  Now,  you  must  know  our 
'City  Local'  is  a  hard  man  to  find,  as  he  sleeps  all  day  and  writes 
up  his  locals  at  night.  After  many  delays  the  programmes  came 
out,  1000  of  them.  My  presence  with  the  old  blind  pony  on  the 
street  corner  seemed  to  be  the  sign  for  the  gathering  of  all  the  mus- 
ical men,  and  I  would  hardly  have  stopped  before  they  would 
flock  around  the  buggy  and  talk  over  the  prospects,  and  one  after 
another  would  start  off  to  find  some  enthusiastic  person  who 
needed  only  to  be  told  about  Sherwood  to  bring  in  a  dozen  men." 
The  letter  lies  unfinished.  A  few  days  later,  May  27,  came  news 
of  the  death  of  the  third  son,  John,  at  an  Eastern  college. 

In    her   annual  address,   read  January  7,  1880,   Mrs.  Putnam 
regrets  that  she  had  not  been  able  to  do  more  work  for  the  Acad- 


emy,  on  account  of  the  great  sorrow  that  had  come  to  her;  she 
speaks  of  the  afternoon  talks  given  by  Mr.  Pratt,  Dr.  Parry,  and 
others,  and  adds  that  "  the  familiar  lectures  and  classes  have  been 
established  with  a  view  to  secure  the  interest  and  cooperation  of 
the  pupils  of  our  city  schools.  If  the  results  in  this  direction  have 
not  as  yet  proved  all  that  could  be  desired,  or  reasonably  expected, 
it  is  still  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  at  least  some  earnest  efforts 
have  been  made  to  place  the  Academy  on  its  legitimate  basis  as 
an  educational  institution."  In  the  spring  Mrs.  Putnam  had 
arranged  a  botany  class  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Parry. 

Thus  was  inaugurated  a  movement  which  Mrs.  Putnam  and 
the  other  workers  in  the  Academy  had  had  in  mind  for  years:  the 
teaching  of  the  school  children  natural  history  in  the  Academy. 
This  work  was  carried  on  from  time  to  time  by  Mr.  Pratt.  It  is 
gratifying  to  know  that  twenty-three  years  later,  just  before  her 
death,  Mrs.  Putnam  had  the  deep  happiness  of  seeing  this  move- 
ment regularly  organized  and  the  children  coming  by  the  hun- 
dreds, to  the  Academy  to  stud}'  its  collections  and  receive  syste- 
matic scientific  instruction. 

These  were  anxious  years,  watching  over  the  failing  health  of 
her  eldest  son.  Mrs.  Putnam  accompanied  him  on  his  short  trips, 
one  being  to  Des  Moines  in  1881,  in  the  endeavor  to  have  a  state 
entomologist  appointed  for  Iowa.  What  is  now  regarded  as  an 
economic  necessity  was  then  regarded  as  a  most  visionary  extrav- 
agance. Of  her  visit  to  the  legislature  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  "  It 
recalls  the  days  when  I  heard  Clay,  Webster  and  Calhoun,  in 
Washington;  a  little  different,  it  is  true,  still  the  same  feeling 
came  over  me." 

The  publication  of  Vol.  II  of  the  Proceedings  was  the  individ- 
ual enterprise  of  J.  D.  Putnam  and  was  begun  in  February,  1877. 
One  result  of  the  publication  was  to  bring  in  large  numbers  of 
scientific  exchanges.  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  in  August,  1878: 
"  Our  library  has  gotten  a  great  start  and  is  filling  up  very  fast. 
We  have  put  the  books  up  in  the  Art  room,  and  they  set  off  the 
room  beautifully." 

No  sooner  was  Vol.  II  completed  than  Vol.  Ill  was  started  under 
great  difficulties.  The  amateur  printing  press  was  moved  from 
"  Woodlawn  "  to  the  basement  of  the  Academy;  and  here  the 
typesetting  and  proof  reading  was  done  in  the  most  economical 


manner,  most  of  it  by  J.  Duncan  Putnam.  Out  of  such  sacrifices 
grew  Vol.  III. 

At  page  128  of  the  volume  the  labors  of  J.  Duncan  Putnam 
ceased.  He  died  on  December  10,  1881.  He  was  one  of  the 
sincerest  seekers  after  the  truth,  gentle,  modest  of  disposition, 
entirely  forgetful  of  self  in  the  enthusiasm  of  the  aim  in  view. 
He  had  crowded  into  his  brief  span  of  twenty-six  years  the  work 
and  enthusiasm  of  a  long  life.  To  the  mother  who  had  watched 
over  him  for  eight  years,  who  had  been  his  comrade  in  every 
enterprise,  who  had  built  up  the  Academy  for  the  sake  of  bring- 
ing a  bright  look  on  the  wan  face  of  the  invalid,  to  her  his  inter- 
est in  the  Academy  descended  as  a  sacred  legacy. 

Naturally,  Mrs.  Putnam's  work  in  the  Academy  went  on.  On 
January  27,  1882,  she  was  appointed  Chairman  of  the  Publication 
Committee  to  succeed  her  son.  From  this  time  until  her  death 
her  interest  in  the  publication  never  lessened.  The  year  was 
spent  in  arranging  the  papers  of  J.  Duncan  Putnam.  With  the 
assistance  of  Prof.  Herbert  Osborn  his  scientific  work  was  com- 
pleted and  published  in  Vol.  Ill,  which  was  appropriately  made 
a  memorial  volume. 

On  October  29,  1882,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  to  her  sister,  Mrs. 
Edward  P.  Kirby,  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  "I  sent  you  sheets  of 
the  Memorial  Volume  for  my  gift.  It  is  more  than  gold  to  me, 
the  perpetuating  the  memory  of  such  a  boy;"  and  a  little  later: 
"I  am  so  happy  in  this  glorious  work  of  my  beloved  son.  I 
wonder  if  any  one  ever  did  so  honor  and  love  a  boy.  God  bless 
his  precious  memory ! ' ' 

In  April,  1883,  a  special  meeting  was  called,  and  an  effort  was 
made  to  raise  the  indebtedness  of  the  Academy.  Not  only  was  this 
done,  but  over  $1 ,000  was  left  as  an  endowment  for  the  institution. 
The  credit  of  this  undertaking  is  due  especially  to  Hon.  George 
H.  French,  Major  George  P.  McClelland  and  Mr.  Nicholas 
Kuhnen. 

Mrs.  Putnam  attended  the  meeting  in  Minneapolis  of  the  Amer- 
ican Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science  in  August,  1883, 
renewing  and  forming  friendships  with  Eastern  scientists  and 
interesting  them  in  the  Academy.  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam  vis- 
ited Davenport  from  Minneapolis  and  gave  a  lecture  for  the  ben- 
efit of  the  Academy.     The  visit  of  Professor  W.  H.  Holmes  at 

24 


this  time  was  followed  by  an  offer  to  write  a  paper  on  the  pottery 
contained  in  the  Academy  museum,  the  Smithsonian  Institution 
to  furnish  the  plates  to  illustrate  the  paper.  This  is  the  most 
valuable  paper  ever  printed  by  the  Academy  on  the  pottery  in  its 
collections.  The  generous  offer  was  gladly  accepted,  so  Volume 
IV  was  started  with  the  sum  of  only  $72.37  on  hand,  and  unpaid 
subscriptions  amounting  to  $51. 

Entertainments  helped  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  Academy. 
Courses  of  lectures  were  successfully  given;  the  annual  children's 
entertainments  on  the  twenty-second  of  February  were  never  by 
any  chance  omitted;  an  extensive  exhibition  of  English  water  col- 
ors proved  a  great  success  both  artistically  and  financially.  All 
these  undertakings  and  many  others,  of  which  space  will  not  per- 
mit the  mention,  testify  to  constant,  busy  work  on  the  part  of  Mrs. 
Putnam.  There  were  hours  of  grief  which  were  silently  hidden 
from  her  immediate  family,  but  which  astray  letter  reveals.  She 
laments  writing  a  sad  letter  the  day  before,  to  her  sister,  "but 
how  can  I  help  it;  now  and  then  I  feel  I  must  cry  out  in  agony, 
but  to-day  I  determined  to  work,  work  again  for  the  beloved  Acad- 
emy, and  so  I  get  me  to  work." 

In  1885  a  salary  of  $500  was  voted  for  Mr.  Pratt  as  Curator. 
He  had  given  all  his  spare  hours,  from  the  beginning  of  the  for- 
mation of  the  museum,  to  arranging  the  specimens,  and  had  been 
a  most  faithful  worker.  All  the  work  in  the  Academy  previous 
to  this  time  had  been  verily  "a  labor  of  love."  As  usual  Mrs. 
Putnam  raised  the  money,  assisted  in  part  by  Mr.  E.  P.  Eynch. 

June  9,  1885,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  "The  Horticultural  Soci- 
ety offered  the  Academy  strawberries  and  cream  for  a  festival.  I 
have  all  the  management  and  responsibility.  I  rather  shrink 
from  it,  quite  different  from  a  few  years  ago  when  such  a  thing 
was  fun;  especially  as  I  have  all  of  the  profits  for  my  publication. 
Mr.  Holmes'  paper  is  done,  and  I  have  to  pay  out  $100  right 
away  and  have  not  one  cent."  After  the  entertainment  was  over, 
on  June  22,  she  writes:  "I  have  given  a  most  successful  and  brill- 
iant Academy  festival — a  decided  success — a  large  crowd  of  people 
— superb  music  and  strawberries  (150  quarts  were  given  me,  all  the 
cream,  flowers,  etc.).  I  took  in  $70;  some  necessary  expenses  took 
my  profits  down  to  $60.  As  I  had  to  meet  a  bill  of  $144,  it  helped 
me  that  much  and  encouraged  me  to  attempt  another." 

25 


The  Davenport  Chapters  of  the  Agassiz  Association  were  formed 
about  this  time.  Mrs.  Putnam  was  naturally  much  interested  in 
their  meetings  at  the  Academy  and  often  attended  them,  reading 
to  them  from  "  Walks  Around  My  Garden"  and  other  books. 
They  frequently  spent  the  day  at  "  Woodlawn."  Mrs.  Putnam 
always  wanted  the  children  to  come  to  the  Academy.  She  writes: 
"  The  lot  was  given  on  the  twenty-second  of  February;  the  build- 
ing dedicated  on  the  next  twenty-second;  children  entertained  the 
next,  and  every  year  this  has  been  our  '  Saint's  Day.'  We  expect 
500  children"  [at  the  entertainment  she  was  planning].  In  the 
summer  of  1886  the  National  Convention  of  the  Agassiz  Associ- 
ation had  a  most  successful  meeting  in  Davenport;  over  one  hun- 
dred delegates  were  entertained. 

April  2,  1886,  she  writes:  "  Printers  do  go  so  slow  [all  of  Vol. 
IV  not  finished].  Yet  I  have  commenced  another,  Vol.  V,  and 
have  eight  pages  printed;  but  a  gentleman  has  given  us  such  a 
splendid  paper  to  be  fully  illustrated,  and  so  many  of  our  mem- 
bers subscribed  at  once,  that  I  am  not  going  to  have  the  same 
trouble  with  Vol.  V.  It  is  just  splendid,  too,  that  our  publica- 
tion goes  straight  on.  As  soon  as  one  volume  is  done  another 
begins,  and  once  in  three  years  we  bring  out  our  latest  thought. 
Vol.  IV  is  making  for  us  a  splendid  record — so  I  think  one  thousand 
more  books  will  come  into  our  library  this  year.  Two  thousand 
came  last  year.  We  have  to-day  received  a  beautiful  collection 
of  shells  and  minerals.  I  attended  a  meeting  for  birds  this  after- 
noon. It  is  dreadful,  the  slaughter  of  the  innocents.  I  visited 
seven  ladies,  all  of  whom  promised  to  take  them  off  their  hats. 
Fifty  ladies  signed  a  paper  for  the  same."  Never  afterwards 
would  Mrs.  Putnam  wear  aigrette  or  wing  in  her  bonnet. 

There  always  was  need  for  money,  and  on  July  13,  1886,  another 
lawn  fete  was  given  for  the  benefit  of  the  Academy,  at  "  Wood- 
lawn."  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  on  June  14th:  "  It  will  be  about 
nine  years  since  my  last  "  Kettledrum,"  and  that  is  still  remem- 
bered by  everyone.  Great  changes  have  occurred  in  my  home 
since  then.  .  .  .  When  I  think  of  all  I  have  lost  in  these  nine 
years  my  heart  shrinks  from  the  effort ,  but  it  must  be  done.  I  must 
work  to  live;  the  Academy  must  have  money,  and  who  will  give  it 
to  us?  So  I  am  bound  to  go  through  with  it.  This  "Mid-Sum- 
mer's Night's  F£te,"  as  it  was  called,  was  successful  in  every  way. 


Mrs.  Putnam  was  most  modest  about  her  own  abilities.  On 
October  17,  1886,  she  writes:  "I  was  much  interested  in  your 
account  of  the  robins.  I  am  sorry  I  have  not  studied  the  habits 
of  birds  and  animals  as  I  would  have  done  had  I  been  a  woman 
of  leisure.  But  the  fitting  of  these  young  lives  to  cope  with  the 
world,  the  impressing  their  natures  with  the  love  of  truth,  and 
forming  their  characters  for  noble  aims,  has  been  the  engrossing 
work  of  my  life,  and  the  little  I  have  done  for  the  scientific  world 
is  to  oil  the  wheels  of  this  institution  by  getting  money  to  carry 
out  the  scientific  thought  of  my  beloved  son  Duncan  and  his  asso- 
ciates. His  monument  he  builded  himself.  God  grant  it  may 
grow  more  worthy  of  his  noble  life  and  as  years  roll  on  take  the 
hold  of  the  people  his  sacrifices  entitle  it  to." 

It  was  felt  that  there  should  be  some  permanent  basis  to  pay 
the  salary  of  the  curator,  besides  a  yearly  subscription  and  the 
dues  of  the  members,  so  Mrs.  Putnam  reported  to  the  Board  of 
Trustees,  on  November  25,  1886,  a  plan  to  "raise  an  annual 
subscription  of  $400  a  year — for  five  years — to  provide  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  Academy  and  obviate  repeated  appeals  to  the  public." 
This  plan  received,  according  to  the  Proceedings,  "  the  approba- 
tion of  the  Trustees,"  and  Mrs.  Putnam  was  appointed  to  raise 
the  amount. 

The  old  subscription  paper  is  still  preserved,  the  worn  edges  tes- 
tif3'ing  to  the  faithful  service  it  did  as  it  made  its  yearly  rounds. 
The  mute  signatures  tell  little  of  the  part  the)T  played  in  tiding 
the  Academy  over  the  most  critical  part  of  its  history.  Many  of 
the  early  enthusiastic  members  had  died;  there  was  little  interest 
felt  in  the  institution  by  the  majority  of  citizens.  No  one  knows 
the  number  of  times  Mrs.  Putnam  was  advised  to  close  the  doors 
and  simply  let  it  die.  The  subscription  paper  stands  a  monu- 
ment to  her  indomitable  perseverance  and  courage. 

Of  the  efforts  to  raise  this  money  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  to  her 
husband  on  December  10,  1886:  .  .  .  "Oh,  that  I  could  know 
some  of  the  mysterious  joys  of  a  true  scientist  and  a  true  artist, 
but  I  don't  believe  it  was  meant  I  should  classify  or  arrange  any- 
thing unless  maybe  a  subscription  paper;  this  I  have  done  of  late 
to  my  great  satisfaction  and  have  more  than  one-half  of  what  I 
expected  pledged  for  the  coming  year  of  the  Academy.  .  .  and 
then  if  they  sign  for  five  years  they  may  some  of  them  remember 

27 


us  in  their  wills — anything  we  give  to  for  five  years  we  love,  you 
know;  and  if  we  tide  our  beloved  son's  Academy  over  these  five 
years,  as  we  have  the  last  since  he  left  us,  I  really  think  it  will 
be  taken  care  of,  don't  you?"  And  again  on  January  2,  1887, 
to  her  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Mary  P. Bull:  ' '  $350  a  year  has  been  sub- 
scribed without  much  effort.  I  shall  hope  to  get  at  least  $400 
before  another  week,  but  I  have  been  too  busy  sewing  to  attend 
much  to  other  matters.  ...  I  often  wish  I  were  rich.  I  would 
never  see  that  boy's  institution  suffer  for  the  want  of  so  little; 
but  it  will  be  endowed  some  day;  and  his  name  will  live  as  it  ought 
to  live  when  marble  monuments  have  perished  and  monumental 
fortunes  have  crumbled  away.  The  memory  of  my  beloved  Dun- 
can will  live  for  ever  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew  and  could 
appreciate  his  gentle,  quiet,  and  scientific  nature.  It  is  five  years 
since  we  laid  him  away,  but  oh!  how  his  presence  haunts  my 
dreams,  how  often  I  think  of  him  and  long  for  the  touch  of  that 
vanished  hand." 

The  last  $50  of  this  subscription  was  raised  by  Major  McClel- 
land for  Mrs.  Putnam,  who  was  ill  at  home,  but  who  writes  on 
hearing  that  the  entire  sum  was  raised:  "I  never  felt  more 
happy  than  to-night  for  I  feel  sure  now  the  Academy  has  a 
future." 

On  the  morning  of  June  3,  1887,  the  beautiful  home  of  "  Wood- 
lawn  "  was  destroyed  by  fire.  None  of  the  family  were  at  home. 
Mrs.  Putnam  was  in  Chicago.  It  was  decided  to  camp  out  for 
the  summer  in  the  gardener's  cottage  on  the  hill.  Both  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Putnam  took  up  the  readjustment  of  their  household  in  the 
changed  surroundings,  with  their  usual  quiet  courage,  Mrs.  Put- 
nam making  a  cosy  home  with  the  few  things  saved  from  the 
fire.  She  lamented  the  loss  of  the  drawings  and  writings  of  her 
son  Duncan,  and  of  Mr.  Putnam's  unpublished  literary  papers, 
the  work  of  a  lifetime,  but  she  felt  that  as  long  as  the  family  circle 
remained  unbroken,  there  was  a  bright  side  to  the  disaster.  This 
comfort  was  soon  taken  away,  as  six  weeks  later,  on  July  19,  1887, 
her  husband,  Charles  E.  Putnam,  died  after  a  short  illness. 

Mr.  Putnam  was  a  man  of  strong  personality.  He  had  been 
a  prominent  lawyer,  President  of  the  Davenport  Savings  Bank 
for  fourteen  years  and  had  written  the  Savings  Bank  Law  which 
was  adopted  by  the  State  of  Iowa,  and  is  still  in  force.     He  was 

28 


President  of  the  Gas  Company,  the  Plow  Company,  and  of  numer- 
ous other  organizations.  He  had  infinite  tact  and  a  wonderfully 
quick  mind  that  grasped  the  essentials  of  a  subject  at  once  and 
enabled  him  to  carry  on  so  man}-  and  varied  lines  of  work.  He 
had  a  strong  love  for  literature  and  accumulated  a  large  and  well 
selected  library.  His  leisure  hours,  for  }^ears,  were  spent  in  liter- 
ary work.  He  followed  his  children's  occupations  with  the  same 
interest  as  his  wife,  and  through  his  son  Duncan  became  interested 
in  science.  He  was  President  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences in  1885  and  1886,  on  its  finance  committee  for  years,  and 
trustee  for  fourteen  years.  He  was  a  man  of  broad  sympathies, 
and  every  good  work  received  support  from  him.  Much  of  the 
work  that  Mrs.  Putnam  accomplished  is  due,  no  doubt,  to  the 
encouragement  and  sympathy  she  received  at  home. 

Their  married  life  of  thirty-three  years  had  been  so  congenial 
and  ideal  that  his  death  would  have  been  a  deep  sorrow  at  any 
time,  but  especially  so  after  the  loss  of  their  home  and  with  the 
uncertainties  of  the  future.  After  a  few  weeks  the  widow,  left 
with  six  sons  and  one  daughter,  roused  herself  from  her  grief  and 
writes  to  her  sister:  "  The  work  of  life  must  go  on;  these  dear 
children  must  be  helped  to  maturity.  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
to  go  to  town  each  day  and  do  my  duty  for  my  children."  In 
the  fall  of  this  year  the  family  moved  to  a  house  in  town,  where 
Mrs.  Putnam  lived  the  remainder  of  her  life. 

The  next  winter  she  interested  herself  to  see  that  the  salary  of 
Mr.  Pratt,  the  faithful  curator,  was  paid. 

Mrs.  Putnam  and  her  daughter  sailed  for  Europe  October  3, 
1889.  On  the  morning  she  left  Davenport,  Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  ever 
a  staunch  friend  of  the  publication,  brought  the  last  sheets  of  the 
Proceedings,  still  wet  with  the  printer's  ink,  to  the  train,  where 
other  members  of  the  Academy  gathered.  It  was  the  last  time 
many  of  the  old  friends  met. 

The  trip  abroad  was  prolonged  beyond  the  original  plan  on 
account  of  Mrs.  Putnam's  poor  health.  She  took  an  intense  inter- 
est in  everything  abroad,  especially  the  customs  and  life  of  the 
people.  She  had  painted  in  her  younger  days,  and  always  had 
an  instinctive  taste  for  the  best  in  art.  The  galleries  were  a  con- 
stant source  of  pleasure  to  her.  She  visited  the  museums,  and 
was  delighted  when  she  found  the  Proceedings  of  the  Academy 


in  the  libraries.  She  had  a  great  gift  of  attracting  people  to  her 
and  everywhere  made  warm  friends.  She  was  the  most  delight- 
ful of  travelling  companions,  and  could  relate  her  experiences  in  a 
lively,  vivacious  manner.  She  was  rarely  gifted  as  a  conversa- 
tionalist. As  a  friend  remarked,  they  would  hear  something 
interesting  when  Mrs.  Putnam  returned,  not  of  the  trivial  dis- 
comforts of  the  journey. 

This  was  her  longest  trip  away  from  home.  From  girlhood 
she  had  been  a  frequent  traveller,  enjoying  the  opportunity  to  see 
things  and  even  more  to  meet  people.  But  she  never  forgot  the 
interests  of  home.  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  from  Paris,  in  May,  1891, 
just  before  sailing  for  home:  ' '  The  more  I  see  of  this  life  abroad 
the  more  I  am  convinced  the  true  life  is  at  home  and  the  greatest 
glory  of  a  woman  is  to  grace  her  own  fireside."  As  soon  as  she 
arrived  in  New  York  she  writes:  "  Home!  oh,  you  never  can 
know  what  that  word  means  to  one  unless  you  have  been  away 
so  long.  All  America  seems  home  to  me — now  I  have  touched 
my  native  land,  I  am  perfectly  happy." 

She  missed  many  old  friends  upon  her  return  to  Davenport. 
Dr.  C.  C.  Parry,  who  had  been  closely  associated  with  her  son, 
Duncan,  had  died;  Mr.  Pratt  had  removed  to  Minneapolis,  where 
he  died  two  years  later.  Dr.  Barris,  one  of  the  few  of  the  old 
members  left,  had  been  appointed  curator. 

Mrs.  Putnam  was  just  in  time  to  start  a  new  five  years'  sub- 
scription paper.  On  December  18,  1891,  she  writes  to  Mr.  Pratt: 
"I  have  taken  up  the  role  of  presenting  the  $400  list  to  my  friends 
in  behalf  of  the  beloved  Academy— shall  I  call  it  a  success?  In 
about  three  weeks  I  have  $300  on  the  five  years'  subscription, 
from  1892  to  1896,  and  $60  on  this  year  .   .   .  but  I  shall  have  to 

wait  a  little  while  until  I  recover  from  a  refusal  from and 

a  very  few  poor  men  like  him!  It  will  do  me  good  to  wait  and  con- 
sider, it  was  such  easy  sailing.  People  met  me  more  than  half  way. 
I  own  up  I  went  first  to  the  old  and  tried  friends  of  the  Academy. 
.  .  .  We  owed  the  curator  $300  when  I  came  home;  by  January 
first  I  think  we  can  almost  pay  last  year's  salary,  but  oh,  we 
must  get  enough  to  keep  him  next  year,  and  next,  and  next,  for 
five  years,  and  then  the  $120  for  the  Index — we  must  have  that, 
you  see  .  .  .  and  then  the  binding  and  distributing!  will  we  wait 
forever  for  the  endowment!  ...  I  wish  I  could  do  something  in 

30 


my  small  way  to  make  the  annual  meeting  a  worthy  meeting, 
worthy  the  spirit  of  the  past.  What  an  interest  we  used  to  feel, 
what  palpitations  of  the  heart  lest  all  the  reports  should  not  be  up 
to  the  standard.  What  a  full  life  we  are  leading,  and  how  little 
we  know  it." 

Four  times  did  Mrs.  Putnam  secure  this  assured  income  to  the 
Academy;  the  last  time  in  1902,  the  year  of  her  death.  This 
was  for  a  larger  amount,  eight  hundred  dollars;  and  by  this  means 
the  Academy  was  enabled  to  secure  the  whole  time  of  a  curator, 
and  started  on  its  new  era  of  prosperity.  Once  when  a  friend  had 
spoken  to  Mrs.  Putnam  about  leaving  something  to  the  Academy, 
she  wrote:  "I  wish  he  would  just  give  it  now  and  spend  it  him- 
self."    She  was  ever  eager  to  see  immediate  results. 

On  November  23,  1892,  there  is  a  letter  to  "  My  dear  friend 
Mr.  Pratt:  Do  you  remember  the  long  ago — when  the  spirit 
of  unrest  drove  me  to  make  a  commotion  in  the  dear  old  Acad- 
emy building,  and  desks  and  cases  were  moved,  and  decorations 
were  hung — a  piano  brought  in,  and  flying  feet  did  the  work  of 
busier  brains,  and  all  was  commotion  for  one  day  or  two  and  dis- 
order for  a  week  or  so  afterwards,  at  least  you  and  Duncan  used 
to  declare  you  could  find  nothing.  .  .  .  Well,  I  have  been 
strongly  reminded  the  last  month  of  these  dear  old  commotions 
and  upsettings,  yet  with  many  differences.  Then  the  object 
was  always  to  make  some  money — now  it  is  alone  to  spend  it; 
then  the  movement  and  stir  was  witnessed  by  loving  eyes  who 
followed  in  sad  disapproval,  with  a  lurking  smile  of  satisfaction 
at  the  known  results;  now  no  loving  eye  has  followed — no  help- 
ing hand  has  lifted  itself — no  laughing,  warning  voice  has  been 
uplifted  that  this  must  be  the  very  last  entertainment  in  the  Acad- 
emy. Alas,  the  last  gatherings  there  have  been  funerals,  and  the 
stillness  of  the  grave  has  followed  my  lonely  steps  as  I  have  plod- 
ded along.  .  .  I  have  only  touched  on  the  outside  of  it  all  [in  the 
cleaning].  I  feel  as  though  I  had  lived  over  twenty  years  in  this 
month.  .  .  I  have  put  Prof.  Starr's  paper  in  the  printer's  hands 
Monday  of  this  week  —  made  the  same  bargain  as  for  Vol.  V; 
and  while  there  is  not  a  cent  to  begin  paying  the  printer,  I  have 
faith  that  by  the  time  the  first  form  is  printed  the  money  will 
be  forthcoming." 

This  cleaning  was  preparatory  to  the  celebration  of  the  twenty- 

31 


fifth  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Academy.  The  day 
before,  on  December  13,  1892,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes,  "  I'm  so  sorry 
I  undertook  the  Academy  entertainment  just  now,  but  a  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  does  not  often  occur.  The  weather  is  beastly, 
yet  I  have  to  go  out  in  it  for  the  last  things.  Think  of  us  to-mor- 
row." That  afternoon  Mrs.  Putnam  was  injured  in  a  fall  from  a 
street  car  and  was  unable  to  go  to  the  entertainment.  A  few  days 
later  she  writes,  "  I  love  the  Academy  better  to-day  than  when 
my  dying  boy  almost  breathed  its  name  with  'Mother'  from  his 
parting  breath — it  was  his  legacy  to  me.  When  I  thought  I  was 
killed  the  other  day  I  was  glad  that  the  Academy  had  a  new  coat 
of  paint  on  it.  .  .  My  back  troubles  me  some.  I  think  almost 
more  than  at  first.  Yet  I  go  out  every  day  and  try  to  think  I  am 
not  hurt." 

At  this  time  Mrs.  Walworth,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Daugh- 
ters of  the  American  Revolution,  induced  Mrs.  Putnam  to  become 
the  first  State  Regent  of  Iowa. 

In  1895  Mrs.  Putnam  was  left  a  bequest  by  her  sister-in-law, 
Mrs.  Mary  Putnam  Bull  of  Tarrytown,  New  York,  of  the  sum  of 
ten  thousand  dollars,  "as  a  memorial  to  my  brother,  Charles  E. 
Putnam,  and  my  nephew,  J.  Duncan  Putnam."  It  was  Mrs. 
Bull's  idea  to  have  part  of  it  used  in  erecting  a  monument  in  the 
cemetery.  Mrs.  Putnam  placed  a  large  glacial  boulder,  found  on 
the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  to  mark  the  resting  place  of  these 
two  men  of  simple  tastes.  The  inheritance  tax  of  the  State  of 
New  York  was  five  hundred  dollars  and  Mrs.  Putnam  gave  the 
remainder,  nine  thousand  five  hundred  dollars,  to  the  Academy, 
establishing  the  Putnam  Memorial  Fund,  the  income  to  be  used 
toward  carrying  on  the  publications  of  the  Academy.  No  more 
fitting  memorial  could  be  found  in  view  of  the  long  and  intimate 
association  of  father  and  son  with  the  Academy. 

Previous  to  this  time  the  publication  had  had  a  struggle  for 
existence.  The  six  volumes  published  prior  to  1895  had  cost 
over  eight  thousand  dollars  and  this  entire  sum  had  been  raised 
by  three-  and  five-dollar  subscriptions  to  the  volumes,  obtained 
by  repeated  solicitation  by  Mrs.  Putnam.  A  very  few,  like  Prof. 
Sheldon,  gave  generously.  Sometimes  the  money  came  so  unex- 
pectedly that  Mrs.  Putnam  was  wont  to  say  "it  sifted  down  from 
heaven."     When  publishing  Vol.  IV,  she  writes,  "I  find  people 

32 


now  understand  what  publishing  proceedings  means  and  are 
interested  at  once  and  willing  to  help.  I  have  met  with  great 
success,  without  begging  in  the  least.  The  publication  now 
stands  on  its  own  merits." 

Mrs.  Putnam  spent  the  summer  of  1897  m  Europe  with  two  of 
her  children,  travelling  leisurely  from  Norway  to  Italy. 

On  December  it,  1897,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes  of  celebrating  the 
thirtieth  anniversary  of  the  Academy  on  the  14th,  "  by  a  simple 
reception  at  Academy  afternoon  and  evening.  For  days  I  have 
cleaned  up  things.  I  hope  to  close  this  year  with  every  bill  set- 
tled and  all  dues  collected.  The  contract  for  the  new  [Presby- 
terian] church  was  let  yesterday.  They  have  offered  the  old 
building  to  me  for  the  Academy  for  $5,000, — a  great  bargain,  I 
think."  Four  years  before,  on  September  10,  1893,  there  is  men- 
tion in  a  letter  of  Mrs.  Putnam's  of  the  importance  of  the  Acad- 
emy owning  the  property  on  the  corner,  when  the  Presbyterian 
Church  removed  to  other  quarters,  as  they  would  eventually  do. 

She  never  lost  sight  of  this  project,  and  patiently  and  persist- 
ently worked  till  she  persuaded  the  trustees  to  see  it  from  her 
point  of  view.  The  Academy  owned  land  on  the  north  for  future 
building  purposes,  and  many  thought  the  old  church  building 
would  only  be  an  incubus.  A  few  far-sighted  trustees  real- 
ized it  was  a  good  investment  at  least.  It  has  proved  a  most 
wise  one.  There  is  a  hall  for  lectures  and  a  high  basement  to 
contain  part  of  the  ever  increasing  museum.  If  the  Academy 
had  not  bought  it  a  large  apartment  building  would  have  been 
erected,  cutting  off  light  and  sunshine  from  the  Museum.  It 
preserves  for  the  Academy  one  of  the  most  commanding  corners 
in  Davenport.  The  Trustees  of  the  church  most  generously 
placed  a  much  lower  price  on  the  property  than  they  could  have 
obtained  from  other  parties.  On  April  3,  1S98,  Mrs.  Putnam 
writes:  "Mr.  Cutter  says  the  Jewish  Synagogue  came  to  ask 
the  price  and  wanted  to  buy  the  church,  but  when  they  heard 
Mrs.  Putnam  wanted  it  for  the  Academy,  they  would  not  make 
an  offer."  The  Trustees  of  the  Academy  bought  the  church 
property  in  1899. 

On  December  3,  1899,  after  the  close  of  the  last  service  held  by 
the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  building,  Dr.  Donaldson  stepped 
from  the  pulpit  and  handed  the  ke}-  to   Mrs.  Putnam,  then  the 

33 


oldest  living  member  of  the  church,  who  received  it  on  behalf  of 
the  Academy.  Upon  taking  the  key  she  said:  "No  words  of 
mine  can  adequately  express  my  feelings  in  accepting  the  key  of 
this  old  church,  which  so  many  hallowed  associations  have  en- 
deared to  me,  or  of  the  gratification  I  feel  in  knowing  my  interest 
in  it  is  not  entirely  to  cease,  as  this  key  will  pass  into  the  custody 
of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  an  institution 
which,  next  my  family  and  my  church,  holds  the  dearest  place  in 
my  heart." 

The  purchase  of  the  old  church  entailed  an  enormous  amount 
of  work.  The  first  problem  was  how  to  pay  for  it.  Mrs.  Putnam 
was  aided  in  raising  the  money  by  the  Hon.  C.  A.  Ficke.  It  was 
decided  to  connect  the  two  buildings  by  a  passage  way,  large 
enough  to  be  used  for  museum  purposes.  Mr.  E.  S.  Hammatt 
and  Mr.  A.  F.  Cutter  superintended  the  construction,  while 
that  of  cleaning  and  arranging  the  two  buildings  was  done  by 
Mrs.  Putnam.  Griswold  College  was  disbanded  at  this  time,  and 
Bishop  Morrison  and  the  trustees  of  the  college  generously  gave 
its  valuable  scientific  collection  and  library  to  the  Academy. 
With  this  added  space,  the  Academy  could  exhibit  the  collection 
at  once.  The  work  of  moving  the  collection  was  very  great. 
Mr.  C.  E.  Harrison  attended  to  the  transporting  and  sorting  of 
the  books,  but  for  weeks  Mrs.  Putnam  was  busy  superintending 
the  transfer  and  arrangement  of  the  collection.  All  this  made 
the  summer  a  busy  one.  Mrs.  Putnam  secured  the  services  of  a 
trained  librarian,  who  began  the  arrangement  and  cataloguing 
of  the  library,  disturbing  the  dust  of  years.  It  was  realized  as 
never  before  what  a  rare  and  valuable  library  the  Academy  pos- 
sessed. During  all  the  years  that  the  publication  of  the  Academy 
proceedings  had  been  going  on,  laboriously  but  perseveringly,  the 
library  had  been  steadily  growing.  Foreign  societies  had  been 
sending  their  publications  in  exchange,  thus  proving  the  fore- 
sight of  those  members  who  inaugurated  the  printing  of  original 
scientific  papers  by  the  Academy. 

The  start  made  in  cataloguing  the  library  has  been  kept  up  by 
Miss  Foote-Sheldon,  so  that  now  the  large  collection  of  books 
is  available  for  use  by  scientific  students. 

On  the  thirty-third  anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Acad- 
emy, December  14,  1900,  Science  Hall,  the  new  lecture  room,  was 

34 


dedicated.  President  MacLean  and  Prof.  C.  C.  Nutting  of  the 
State  University  of  Iowa,  came  from  Iowa  City,  and  Prof.  Fred- 
erick Starr,  from  the  University  of  Chicago,  gave  a  lecture.  Let- 
ters from  scientific  friends  all  over  the  country  were  read,  con- 
gratulating the  Academy  on  the  work  achieved  during  its  exist- 
ence of  a  third  of  a  century. 

As  one  of  the  tributes,  Prof.  Nutting  read  the  following  poem: 

THE  STORY  OF  TWO  WOMEN. 

There  was  a  woman  on  whose  heart  was  pressed  the  heavy  hand  of  Sorrow. 

Her  heart  was  braised,  her  head  was  bowed,  her  life  bereft  of  hope  and  light . 

This  woman  was  not  strong,  and  so  she  sat  her  down  and  cried  : 

"Woe  has  come  upon  me,  and  my  love  lies  dead,  his  work  unfinished. 

No  more  is  heard  his  name  upon  the  lips  of  men.  With  him  is  Hope  en- 
tombed. 

Henceforth  my  life  shall  be  devoid  of  light,  and  o'er  his  grave  I'll  place 

A  broken  shaft  to  show  the  incompleteness  of  his  life  cut  short  of  full  fru- 
ition . ' ' 

And  so  it  was.    Her  life  was  void.    His  name  forgotten  in  the  homes  of  men. 

Again  there  was  a  woman  on  whose  heart  was  pressed  the  heavy  hand  of 

Sorrow. 
Her  heart  was  sore,  her  head  bowed  low,  her  life  bereft  of  light. 
But  strong  this  woman  was,  and  brave,  and  she  stood  up  amid  the  stress 
Of  this  her  dire  calamity,  and  gazed  undaunted  on  the  face  of  Sorrow. 
"  My  love  shall  live  !  "  she  said.     "  His  work  unfinished  I  take  up.     My  life 

I  give 
To  see  his  hope  fulfilled.     His  name  shall  still  be  spoken  in  the  courts 
Of  Wisdom,  and  a  monument  I'll  raise  to  show  fruition  of  his  cherished 

hopes." 

And  so  it  was.     And  wise  men  came  to  bring  her  aid.     And  lo  !     Her  life 

was  full 
Of  light  and  blessed  with  fruitful  works.     No  broken  shaft  raised  she 
Above  his  tomb.     Instead   she   reared   a   monument   enduring  as  is  Truth 

eternal. 
And  the  wise  men  bring  their  tribute  of  their  learning  to  this  shrine. 
His  name  is  honored  still  in   Wisdom's  court.     His  work   complete.     His 

hope  fulfilled, 
And  Sorrow,  conquered,  chastened,  owns  the  sway  of  Love. 

Soon  after  Mrs.  Putnam's  return  in  May,  1901,  from  California, 
where  she  had  spent  several  months  for  the  benefit  of  her  health. 

35 


occurred  the  death  of  Dr.  Barris,  an  early  member,  ex -President, 
and  curator  of  the  Academy.  He  had  ever  been  a  faithful  friend 
to  Mrs.  Putnam,  one  who  encouraged  her  by  his  hopeful  conversa- 
tion and  charming  personality  to  go  on  with  her  work.  The  death 
of  Dr.  Barris  left  but  two  out  of  the  group  of  the  early  active 
members:  Dr.  C.  H.  Preston,  who  has  been  a  member  of  the  Pub- 
lication Committee  from  its  inception  and  who  has  ever  taken  a 
deep  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Academy,  and  Mr.  C.  E.  Har- 
rison, who  has  given  generously  of  his  time  and  energy  to  further 
its  success,  working  with  the  same  loyal  interest  during  the  years 
of  discouragement  as  during  those  of  prosperity.  As  the  office  of 
curator  was  now  vacant,  and  as  the  five  years'  subscription  paper 
expired  at  this  time,  some  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  again 
advocated  the  closing  of  the  Academy.  Instead,  Mrs.  Putnam 
arranged  to  have  the  present  curator  of  the  Academy,  Mr.  J.  H. 
Paarmann,  then  a  student  at  the  University  of  Iowa,  come  to 
Davenport  and  remount,  classify,  and  label  the  fine  collection  of 
birds  in  the  museum. 

In  August  of  this  year  Mrs.  Putnam,  accompanied  by  her 
daughter,  attended  the  meeting  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  at  Denver.  Later,  at  Glenwood 
Springs,  Colorado,  she  met  with  a  serious  carriage  accident  which 
nearly  proved  fatal,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  she  never  en- 
tirely recovered.  As  she  lay  helpless,  being  unable  to  move  for 
weeks  after  her  return,  her  mind  was  full  of  plans  for  the  "be- 
loved Academy."  Among  other  things  she  arranged  for  a  course 
of  popular  scientific  lectures,  which  was  successfully  given  after 
Christmas.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  courses  which  have 
since  become  an  annual  feature  of  the  Academy's  work. 

In  the  meantime,  how  to  provide  for  and  find  a  curator?  No 
sooner  was  Mrs.  Putnam  able  to  move  than  with  painful  but  un- 
flinching steps  she  visited  the  faithful  patrons  of  the  Academy 
and  raised  the  sum  of  eight  hundred  dollars  for  five  years,  double 
the  amount  raised  in  previous  years.  In  April,  1902,  Mr.  J.  H. 
Paarmann  was  appointed  Curator,  upon  which  office  he  entered 
the  following  July.  He  began,  in  the  fall,  a  series  of  talks  to  the 
school  children,  illustrated  by  specimens  from  the  Academy's  col- 
lections. This  was  a  project  in  which  Mrs.  Putnam  had  always 
taken  deep  interest. 

36 


After  this  work  was  started  Mrs.  Putnam  and  her  daughter 
spent  several  months  in  California.  A  letter  written  to  her 
brother,  Mr.  J.  Duncan,  from  Del  Monte,  March  25,  1902,  tells  of 
her  nervousness  in  driving  (a  natural  sequence  to  her  terrible 
accident  a  few  months  previously),  and  of  her  success  in  conquer- 
ing this  feeling:  "We  took  the  seventeen-mile  drive  along  the 
Pacific.  I  never  enjoyed  a  drive  more  in  my  life  and  I  think  it 
was  because  I  had  entirely  mastered  myself  and  my  fear  of  moun- 
tain drives.  I  thought  it  all  over  in  the  night  and  when  the  car- 
riage came  round,  with  five  seats  beside  the  driver's,  and  the 
rest  were  all  ready,  I  quietly  put  on  my  things  and  astonished 
them  all  by  taking  my  seat  in  the  exact  position  I  sat  in  when 
the  accident  occurred  last  September.  One  place,  where  the  road 
ascended  a  very  steep  place  and  turned  on  top  and  came  down  a 
very  abrupt  descent,  I  thought  I  would  get  out  and  wait;  but  I 
had  started  out  to  conquer,  and  so  I  sat  still.  I  must  say  I  drew 
a  long  breath  when  we  reached  the  bottom,  but  I  was  master  of 
myself  and  that  is  what  I  long  to  be  above  every  other  thing." 

The  summer  was  spent  at  home,  where  Mrs.  Putnam  took  up 
her  work  for  the  Academy  with  her  old  enthusiasm,  taking  great 
interest  in  the  labors  of  Mr.  Paarmann  in  his  new  office  as  Cura- 
tor. In  August  she  arranged  for  a  successful  concert,  given  by 
the  musicians  of  Davenport  for  the  benefit  of  the  Academy. 

Mrs.  Putnam,  accompanied  by  her  daughter,  attended  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Americanists  in  New  York  in  October  of  this  year. 
She  enjoyed  meeting  old  friends  and  making  new  ones,  listening 
to  scientific  papers;  but,  on  looking  back,  one  realizes  that  while 
the  spirit  was  as  eager  to  enjoy  and  impart,  the  body  was  growing 
weaker.  The  journey  was  continued  to  Boston,  where  she  met 
many  old  friends,  and  revived  memories  of  her  visits  there  with 
her  son  Duncan.      It  was  her  last  journey. 

Mrs.  Putnam  was  elected  a  fellow  of  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  at  the  December  meeting,  1902, 
in  Washington.  This  unexpected  honor  greatly  pleased  her, 
though  she  felt  herself  undeserving  it.  But,  as  one  of  her  scien- 
tific friends  has  said,  "to  whom  could  it  have  been  more  worthily 
given  than  to  her  who  had  striven  so  loyally  for  the  advancement 
of  science?" 

The  Academy  was  in  urgent  need  of  a  stereopticon,  to  use  in 

37 


the  talks  Mr.  Paarmann  gave  to  the  school  children;  and  on  Jan- 
uary 3,  1903,  Mrs.  Putnam  writes:  "Every  day  I  receive  money 
(as  the  sparks  fly  out  of  the  fire  at  me)  for  the  stereopticon .  I 
have  written  a  short  report  for  the  annual  meeting.  We  have 
$148  in  the  bank  and  not  a  bill  to  pay,  left  from  last  year."  On 
February  14,  through  gifts  of  generous  friends,  she  succeeded  in 
paying  $1,000  on  a  note  against  the  Academy.  It  was  a  happy 
morning  for  her,  as  she  realized  the  Academy  was  now  on  a  better 
financial  basis,  besides  beginning  active  educational  work. 

An  exhibition  of  Indian  basketry,  planned  and  managed  by 
Mrs.  Putnam,  was  opened  at  the  Academy  on  the  nineteenth  of 
February.  A  much  larger  collection  of  baskets  had  been  gath- 
ered than  was  expected,  and  the  building  was  effectively  decor- 
ated with  mats,  blankets,  and  examples  of  weaving.  On  the  sec- 
ond day  of  the  exhibition,  Friday,  February  20,  1903,  Mrs.  Putnam 
was  the  life  of  the  company.  Some  one  suggested  having  a  loan 
exhibition  of  lace;  and  her  quick  mind  seized  the  idea,  and  with 
her  old-time  enthusiasm,  in  bidding  a  friend  goodby,  she  said, 
"You  must  come  next  month  to  our  lace  exhibit." 

Mrs.  Putnam  returned  home  at  twilight  and,  sitting  before  the 
open  fire,  talked  of  the  events  of  the  afternoon,  of  the  meeting 
with  old  friends;  that  it  was  the  most  beautiful  exhibition  ever 
given  in  Davenport;  what  a  pleasure  the  day  had  been.  She 
went  to  her  room  to  rest.  A  Final  Rest  it  was.  Painlessly  and 
silently  she  passed  into  the  World  Beyond — a  world  in  which  she 
firmly  believed  she  was  to  meet  her  beloved  family  and  the  son 
for  whose  sake  she  labored  so  faithfully  in  the  upbuilding  of  the 
Academy . 

With  kindly  thought  of  friends  and  with  her  last  hours  spent 
in  the  institution  that  had  become  an  integral  part  of  her  life,  the 
day  was  a  beautiful  closing  to  a  full  and  unselfish  life. 

A  few  days  later  Science  Hall,  the  old  Presbyterian  church, 
which  had  been  so  intimately  connected  with  Mrs.  Putnam's  life, 
was  filled  with  family  friends  and  citizens,  gathered  for  the  sim- 
ple but  impressive  funeral  exercises.  Rev.  Dr.  John  B.  Donald- 
son of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  her  pastor,  and  the  Rt.  Rev. 
T.  N.  Morrison,  Bishop  of  Iowa,  an  old  family  friend,  conducted 
the  services.  Mrs.  Putnam  was  broad-minded  in  religion  as  in 
all  the  affairs  of  life,  so  it  seemed  fitting  that  the  last  services  for 

38 


her  should  be  conducted  by  clergymen  of  different  denominations, 
as  had  been  the  case  with  her  husband  and  eldest  son. 

Mrs.  Putnam  was  survived  by  six  sons — Charles  Morgan,  of 
Minneapolis;  Henry  St.  Clair,  a  consulting  electrical  engineer  in 
New  York;  William  Clement,  a  lawyer  in  Davenport;  George 
Rockwell,  in  charge  of  the  United  States  Coast  Survey  work  in 
the  Philippine  Islands;  Edward  Kirby,  in  the  English  Department 
in  Deland  Stanford  Junior  University,  California;  Benjamin 
Risley,  a  mining  engineer  in  Butte,  Montana,  and  by  one  daugh- 
ter, Elizabeth  Duncan. 

Her  children  having  already  been  provided  for,  Mrs.  Putnam 
left  her  entire  estate  to  establish  a  Putnam  Memorial  Fund  for 
the  benefit  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  subject  to  an 
annuity  which  was  waived  by  her  daughter,  Elizabeth  Duncan 
Putnam,  and  to  certain  other  obligations  which  were  assumed  by 
her  son,  William  Clement  Putnam.  By  the  terms  of  her  will  this 
fund,  amounting  in  all  to  about  twenty-four  thousand  dollars,  is 
to  be  held  in  trust  for  the  Academy  by  a  board  of  three  trustees 
and  the  income  is  to  be  used  primarily  for  the  publication  of  sci- 
entific papers. 

Emphasis  has  been  placed  upon  Mrs.  Putnam's  connection  with 
the  Academj'  of  Sciences,  of  which  she  was  President  in  1S79  and 
again  from  1900  until  the  time  of  her  death,  Treasurer  from  1897 
to  1900,  and  Chairman  of  the  Publication  Committee  from  1881 
to  1903.  There  is  a  remarkable  human  interest  in  Mrs.  Putnam's 
work  for  the  Acadenw,  growing  as  it  did  out  of  her  love  for  her 
oldest  child.  To  quote  the  words  of  a  friend:  "We  all  remember 
vividly  the  noble  and  beautiful  mother  of  that  large  family,  who 
yet  found  time  out  of  the  devotion  to  her  children  and  her  abound- 
ing hospitality  to  magnetize  a  careless  western  community  and 
inspire  them  to  rear  an  institution  devoted  to  pure  science.  She 
began  the  work  for  the  sake  of  her  son.  Young  as  he  was,  Dun- 
can Putnam  had  done  work  of  recognized  value  the  world  over; 
and  he  did  the  best  of  it  conscious  of  his  sentence  of  death,  but 
working  doggedly  with  his  last  strength.  To  comfort  him  his 
mother  threw  all  her  splendid  vitality  and  energy  into  his  plans." 

But  absorbing  and  exacting  as  was  this  interest  in  the  Acad- 
emy, it  by  no  means  measured  the  breadth  of  her  sympathies 
and  activity.     Another  friend  writes  of  her :     "Because  she  gave 


so  much  of  herself  to  the  Academy  did  not  mean  she  had  less  to 
give  to  other  things;  on  the  other  hand,  her  love  for  that  institu- 
tion seemed  to  increase  her  endowment,  to  broaden  and  enrich  her 
spirit,  so  that  other  things  profited  rather  than  lost  thereby.  Her 
great  purpose  did  not  cause  her  to  lose  her  sense  of  values.  In- 
deed, the  charm  of  her  personality  was  in  its  many-sidedness. 
Her  love  of  the  beautiful  in  nature  and  art,  her  keen  interest  in 
people,  and  her  inspiring  belief  in  them, — all  of  these  things 
seemed  to  be  stimulated  rather  than  stifled  by  her  great  enthus- 
iasm." 

In  this  many-sided  life  the  key-note  was  always  the  home. 
The  first  duty  of  every  woman,  Mrs.  Putnam  felt,  was  to  her 
family.  From  the  days  when  she  was  a  boon  companion  to  her 
"blue-eyed  banditti,"  as  she  called  her  children,  entering  into  all 
their  sports,  even  to  the  setting  of  type,  to  the  days  when  they 
had  grown  to  manhood,  each  varied  occupation  and  experience  of 
theirs  received  her  sympathy  and  enthusiastic  interest. 

In  her  country  home  Mrs.  Putnam  delighted  to  have  friends 
come  and  share  the  simple  every-day  life  of  the  family.  It  was 
ever  a  joy  to  her  to  do  kind  actions.  It  required  no  special  effort, 
because  it  was  perfectly  natural. 

Mrs.  Putnam  always  found  time  to  be  interested  in  the  aims 
and  work  of  others.  A  chance  remark  of  hers  would  leave  an 
indelible  impression.  Many  an  incident  has  come  to  light  show- 
ing the  influence  a  word  or  two  spoken  by  her  had  on  the  course 
of  a  young  life. 

Sincere  indeed  was  Mrs.  Putnam's  interest  in  those  causes  that 
touch  the  human  heart.  Instances  of  this  have  already  been 
mentioned.  She  was  always  active  in  church  work  and,  while 
seldom  talking  about  religion,  lived  her  Christianity  in  every- 
day life.  She  was  for  several  years  president  of  the  Home  Mis- 
sionary Society  of  the  Presbytery.  She  was  a  charter  member  of 
the  Ladies'  Aid  Society  to  educate  young  girls,  of  the  Associated 
Charities  of  Davenport,  and  of  other  similar  organizations.  She 
was  largely  instrumental  in  bringing  a  police  matron  to  Daven- 
port. When  it  was  decided  to  close  all  the  stores  in  the  city  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  evening  so  that  the  clerks  would  not  be  over- 
worked, it  was  Mrs.  Putnam  who  persuaded  the  last  obdurate 
owners  to  sign  the  agreement.     It  was  this  sincere  and  sympa- 

40 


thetic  interest  in  humanity,  as  well  as  her  personal  interest  in  all 
whom  she  knew,  even  though  casually,  that  made  her  hosts  of 
friends  and  endeared  her  to  the  people  of  her  home  city  and  to  all 
who  came  to  know  her.  A  friend  writes:  "No  one  woman  stood 
for  all  that  she  did  in  the  community,  the  sympathizer  with  every 
good  work,  the  originator  of  many,  the  presiding  genius  of  the 
Academy,  and,  what  made  this  vital  and  enduring,  a  rarely  beau- 
tiful Christian  character." 

Out  of  the  crowded  memories  of  the  past  comes  a  vision  of  a 
woman  of  medium  height,  clear  blue  eyes;  a  well-poised  head, 
crowned  with  beautiful  silver- white  hair;  an  alert,  light  step;  a 
vivacious  manner  and  quick  intellect  that  may  have  come  from 
some  far  away  Huguenot  ancestor;  a  voice  of  unusually  sweet 
and  gentle  modulation,  the  whole  personalit}'  lighted  by  a  smile 
full  of  sympathy  and  enjoyment  of  life. 

Sorrow  had  written  its  history  on  her  face,  but  it  was  illumined 
when  she  talked  or  listened  to  others.  Although  endowed  with 
a  rare  social  instinct  and  delighting  in  the  contact  with  her  fel- 
lows, she  was  a  great  lover  of  nature.  Many  a  sunrise  and  sunset 
she  watched  in  Europe,  the  dawn  coming  upon  the  Jungfrau,  or 
the  marvellous  afterglow  at  sunset, — a  symbol  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, as  she  expressed  it.  Many  of  her  letters  from  "Woodlawn" 
are  dated  "at  sunrise."  The  quiet  communing  with  nature  and 
reading  one  of  the  beloved  Psalms  of  David  gave  her  the  peace 
and  strength  to  plan  her  work  for  the  day,  and  with  a  refreshing 
sleep  afterwards  she  arose  bright  and  sunny  as  the  morning  itself. 
She  was  one  of  the  most  natural  of  women,  perfectly  unconscious 
of  self.  What  people  might  think  of  her  simply  never  occurred 
to  her.  What  they  thought  of  her  children  or  of  the  Academy 
was  another  matter. 

Mrs.  Putnam's  early  life,  fatherless  and  with  an  invalid  mother, 
had  developed  a  naturally  forceful  character.  A  happy  marriage 
brought  out  all  the  sweeter,  unselfish  qualities  of  her  nature. 
She  writes,  early  in  her  life,  "God  formed  me  with  a  heart  so 
large  that  even  a  husband's  and  children's  love  does  not  fill  it  full 
to  overflowing."  She  could  always  enter  into  the  trials  and  sor- 
rows of  others  with  an  unusual  sympathy.  She  was  ever  a  friend 
to  the  poor,  treating  them  with  a  rare  equality.  The  accident  of 
riches  was  nothing  to  her, — "A  man  's  a  man  for  a'  that."     If 

41 


people  were  dull  and  selfish,  though  they  might  have  all  the 
world's  goods,  they  were  perfectly  uninteresting  to  her.  Gossip 
and  unkind  remarks  were  never  heard  from  Mrs.  Putnam.  She 
felt  that  there  were  so  many  interesting  things  in  the  world  to  talk 
about,  why  waste  time  in  matters  worse  than  trivial.  She  often 
quoted  the  saying  "Blessed  is  the  man  or  woman  with  a  hobby," 
feeling  that  the  interest  in  outside  affairs  broadened  the  home 
life  and,  when  sorrows  came,  enabled  a  person  to  rise  above  them, 
in  work  for  others.  As  a  friend  said,  "She  was  a  woman  who 
was  not  afraid  to  live  up  to  her  convictions."  This  fearless,  un- 
selfish character  was  what  enabled  her  to  go  on  with  the  work  of 
the  Academy,  when  a  weaker  woman  would  have  been  discour- 
aged at  the  difficulties  and  would  have  counted  the  cost  and  per- 
sonal sacrifice. 

With  her  earnest  purpose  and  unselfish  devotion,  Mrs.  Putnam 
was  enabled  in  her  well-rounded  life  of  three  score  and  ten  years 
to  crystalize  her  high  ideals  into  permanent  results.  She  was  of 
a  most  hopeful,  cheerful  disposition,  and  while  she  remembered 
the  past  and  while  it  influenced  strongly  her  life,  she  lived  in  the 
present,  planning  for  the  future. 

Her  children  arise  up  and  call  her  blessed. 
Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands;  and  let  her  own  works 
praise  her  in  the  gates. 


Davenport,  Iowa,  December  14,  1905. 


42 


WILLIAM  CLEMENT  PUTNAM 


WILLIAM  CLEMENT  PUTNAM 


A  MEMOIR 


BY   ELIZABETH   DUNCAN   PUTNAM 


On  the  western  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  on  the  bluffs  over- 
looking the  broad  river,  lies  the  town  of  Davenport,  in  Iowa. 
The  scene  is  one  of  quiet  beauty,  with  the  river  winding  onward, 
peacefully  and  majestically,  amid  the  encircling  hills.  Here  was 
born  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  June,  1862,  William  Clement 
Putnam,  the  fifth  son  of  Charles  Edwin  Putnam  and  Mary  Louisa 
Duncan,  his  wife. 

Brief  was  his  life  as  the  years  are  told,  but  into  his  forty-three 
years  he  crowded  the  work  and  achievement  of  a  long  life.  The 
same  traits  of  foresight,  courage,  energy  and  perseverence  that 
had  sent  his  ancestors  from  their  homes  in  Massachusetts  and 
Virginia  to  develop  new  lands,  kept  him  in  his  native  city  and 
enabled  him  to  build  up  a  fortune  and  leave  it  for  the  benefit  of 
Davenport.  Descended  on  his  father's  side  from  New  England 
families,  men  and  women  who  led  industrious,  simple  lives,  and 
on  the  mother's  side  from  Scotch  and  Virginians,  into  whose 
lives  had  come  much  of  interesting  adventure  and  history,  his 
own  character  shows  a  combination  of  the  traits  of  both  families. 

The  incidents  of  Mr.  Putnam's  life  were  few.  He  lived  and 
died  in  his  native  city.  The  first  twent3^-five  years  were  spent 
at  Woodlawn,  a  beautiful  country  place  overlooking  the  Missis- 
sippi, about  two  miles  from  the  center  of  Davenport.  The  fam- 
ily life  of  father,  mother,  ten  sons  and  one  daughter  has  been 
graphically  portrayed  in  the  letters  of  his  mother,  who  did  much 
to  encourage  the  children  to  follow  their  individual  tastes. 

Especially  strong  and  decided,  even  in  childhood,  were  the 
characteristics  of  Mr.  Putnam.     It  is  interesting,  in  reading  his 

43 


early  letters,  to  see  indications  of  the  traits  of  later  years.  The 
boy  of  nine  writes  to  his  father,  ' '  Now,  about  the  money  ques- 
tion," and  upon  receiving  the  remittance,  thanks  him  and  adds, 
"I  hope  I  shall  not  spend  it  foolishly."  His  early  interest  in 
politics  is  shown  by  a  letter  written  a  month  later  to  his  father, 
in  which  he  begins,  "  Hurrah  for  Grant;"  and  upon  hearing  of 
his  father's  politics  he  writes,  "I  am  sorry  you  like  Horace 
Greeley  so  much." 

Surrounded  by  his  father's  large  and  well  selected  library  and 
brought  up  in  "a  reading  family,"  it  was  only  natural  that  his 
latent  love  for  books  and  knowledge  should  develop  early  in  life. 
For  many  years,  by  rising  early  in  the  morning  and  retiring  late 
at  night,  he  accomplished  an  enormous  amount  of  systematic 
reading  of  the  standard  authors.  He  had  a  retentive  memory, 
especially  for  facts  and  information,  and  during  these  years  of 
boyhood  amassed  a  store  of  knowledge  from  which  he  drew  at 
will  in  later  life. 

His  oldest  brother,  Duncan,  was,  at  this  time,  collecting  insects 
and  carrying  on  his  scientific  work.  He  took  great  interest  in 
the  occupations  of  his  younger  brothers  and  it  is  no  doubt  largely 
through  his  influence  and  through  the  constant  encouragement 
of  his  father  and  mother  that  Clement  Putnam  began  his  collec- 
tions and  interest  in  outside  affairs.  An  historical  society  was 
organized  among  the  brothers  at  Woodlawn  and  papers  were  read 
at  the  meetings.  Clement  Putnam  was  the  dominant  and  perse- 
vering member  that  carried  the  society  through  its  existence. 

Very  early  he  began  to  collect  material  for  local  history.  This 
interest  was  developed  by  a  visit  to  his  mother's  former  home, 
Jacksonville,  Illinois.  He  met  many  old  friends  of  his  grand- 
father, Governor  Duncan,  and  gained  from  them  an  impetus  to 
his  interest  in  historical  subjects.  He  planned  at  this  time,  when 
only  eleven  years  old,  to  write  a  biography  of  his  grandfather. 
Unfortunately  he  did  not  carry  out  his  boyish  plan,  though  he 
never  lost  sight  of  it.  He  constantly  collected  material  and  facts 
and  looked  forward  to  the  time  when  he  would  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  write.  When  sixteen,  he  was  interviewing  old  settlers 
and  buying  books  about  the  Black  Hawk  War.  His  letters  show 
his  exact  and  intimate  knowledge  of  where  old  books  could  be 
bought  and  of  their  relative  value. 

44 


When  a  copy  of  Wakefield's  "History  of  the  War  Between  the 
United  States  and  the  Sac  and  Fox  Nations  of  Indians ' '  was 
loaned  him,  he  writes  on  November  26th,  1878:  "I  was  too 
much  interested  in  the  other  book  [Wakefield's  History]  to  think 
about  it  [Cunningham's  Lives]  at  first.  I  could  scarcely  believe 
my  eyes  when  I  saw  what  book  it  was,  for  I  knew  it  was  Wake- 
field's book  instantly  although  the  title  page  is  gone.  I  have 
every  other  book  of  importance  upon  the  Black  Hawk  War  ex- 
cept this  one  and  I  never  expected  to  have  this  one  in  my  pos- 
session even  for  a  short  time,  as  it  is  one  of  the  rarest  western 
books  ever  published,  besides  being  of  great  value  in  itself  .  .  . 
It  is  to  me  the  most  precious  relic  of  a  bygone  age  .  .  .  Before 
returning  it  I  would  first  like  to  make  some  extracts  from  it  con- 
cerning those  things  which  are  of  the  greatest  interest  to  me, 
though  I  am  afraid  I  would  never  know  where  to  stop,  so  much 
am  I  interested  in  everything  of  which  it  treats."  He  copied  the 
entire  book. 

Again  on  January  13th,  1885,  he  writes:  "  I  have  always  had 
a  great  passion  for  old  papers  and  autographs  and  have  already 
a  large  and  valuable  collection.  As  soon  as  my  collection  of 
grandfather's  papers  is  complete  I  intend  to  arrange  them  and 
have  them  bound  in  volumes." 

With  his  love  of  collecting  came  a  strong  ambition  to  write. 
At  the  age  of  ten  he  had  written  a  tragedy  of  five  acts  which  was 
acted  on  an  amateur  stage  at  Woodlawn.  This  was  followed  by 
plans  for  various  works  in  history,  but  unfortunately  his  busy 
life  did  not  enable  him  to  accomplish  all  he  hoped. 

Mr.  Putnam  was  educated  at  the  public  schools  in  Davenport 
and  was  graduated  from  the  High  School  in  1880.  When  but 
eleven  he  had  decided  upon  becoming  a  lawyer.  He  was  ambi- 
tious to  go  first  to  college,  but  feeling  that  his  father  needed  his 
help,  he  laid  aside  this  dream  and  entered  the  law  office  of  Put- 
nam and  Rogers.  This  prompt  and  decisive  response  of  the  boy  to 
what  he  felt  was  a  call  of  duty  was  characteristic  of  the  man. 
One  wonders  what  the  effect  of  a  university  education  would 
have  been  upon  his  mind,  so  eager  and  enthusiastic  for  knowl- 
edge. He  himself  always  regretted  the  loss.  He  spent  two 
years  in  his  father's  law  office  before  going  to  Iowa  City  to  attend 
the  law  school  of  the  State  University  of  Iowa,  from  which  he 

45 


was  graduated  in  1883.  He  was  chosen  one  of  the  orators  of  his 
class,  his  subject  being,  "The  State."  He  assisted  Chancellor 
McClain  in  preparing  his  ' '  Outlines  of  Criminal  Law  and  Pro- 
cedure," published  in  1883.  He  selected  cases  and  "showed  a 
rare  judgment  for  a  law  student  in  his  first  year  of  study."  Soon 
after  his  return  his  father  took  him  into  partnership,  the  firm 
name  being  Putnam  and  Putnam.  The  next  few  years  were  spent 
in  close  application  to  business  and  devotion  to  duty. 

On  the  third  of  June,  1887,  the  house  at  Woodlawn  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  All  of  Mr.  Putnam's  historical  books,  manuscripts  and 
valuable  collection  of  old  letters  relating  to  western  history  were 
burned.  It  was  an  irreparable  loss.  The  death  of  his  father, 
six  weeks  later,  left  the  family  in  peculiarly  sad  and  desolate  cir- 
cumstances and  added  new  responsibilities  to  his  life.  He  assumed 
the  care  of  managing  the  affairs  of  his  mother  and  brothers  and 
sister,  becoming  the  virtual  head  of  the  family.  Nobly  did  he 
perform  this  duty.  He  arranged  the  finances  so  that  his  younger 
brothers  received  a  college  or  technical  education,  and  sold  the  old 
homestead  to  such  advantage  that  his  mother  was  placed  in  com- 
fortable circumstances.  In  the  autumn  of  this  year  the  family 
moved  into  town.  Mr.  Putnam  soon  after  bought  the  house  in 
which  they  first  lived  and  took  great  interest  in  improving  the 
property  and  making  it  a  family  home.  Into  this  house  he  gath- 
ered his  constantly  growing  collection  of  books  and  works  of  art. 
He  was  an  intense  lover  of  home  and  enjoyed  having  his  family 
with  him,  but  unselfishly  urged  his  mother  and  sister's  taking 
an  extensive  European  trip  in  1889,  and  numerous  other  journeys. 

Charles  E.  Putnam  had  numerous  business  interests  besides  his 
law  practice.  Clement  Putnam  succeeded  his  father  as  president 
in  many  of  these  organizations.  Often  the  young  man  of  twenty- 
five,  who  looked  much  younger  than  his  years,  presided  at  a  meet- 
ing of  gray-haired  men,  contemporaries  of  his  father. 

Charles  E.  Putnam  had  been  agent  for  the  property  in  Daven- 
port belonging  to  Charles  Velie  of  Evansville,  Indiana.  This  con- 
sisted of  a  half  block  of  buildings  forming  the  old  L,eClaire,  later 
the  Newcomb,  Block,  in  the  center  of  the  business  district  of 
Davenport.  Clement  Putnam  assumed  the  management  of  it 
during  his  father's  lifetime  and  later  Mr.  Velie,  one  of  many  of 
the  loyal  clients  of  his  father,  continued  him  in  charge  of  his  in- 

46 


terests.  Thus  he  became  familiar  with  it  and  when  the  oppor- 
tunity offered,  in  1895,  to  purchase  the  property,  he  realized  its 
value  and  bought  it.  It  is  this  property,  with  its  large  rental, 
that  becomes  the  chief  source  of  the  income  of  his  bequest  to  the 
Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences.  The  improvement  and  care  of 
these  buildings  gradually  absorbed  most  of  his  time.  From  a 
financial  standpoint  it  was  most  advantageous.  Mr.  Putnam 
had  marked  business  ability,  as  is  shown  by  his  acquisition,  in 
his  short  life,  of  a  large  fortune.  His  business  interests,  how- 
ever, prevented  him  from  becoming  the  distinguished  lawyer  that 
the  few  briefs  and  opinions  he  wrote  indicate  he  might  have  been 
with  the  ability  he  possessed.  He  had  a  clear  mind  and  forceful 
power  of  expression,  and  enjoyed  the  discussion  of  legal  ques- 
tions. Chancellor  McClain,  now  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Iowa,  writes  of  him:  "I  regarded  Mr.  Putnam  as  having  a  mature 
and  sound  legal  mind  and  urged  him  to  undertake  some  legal 
writing,  but  he  seemed  too  busy  for  it  although  it  was  in  accord- 
ance with  his  tastes." 

Business  affairs  necessitated  frequent  visits  to  New  York  and 
gave  him,  incidentally,  an  opportunity  to  come  into  closer  touch 
with  the  literary  and  artistic  world.  Unconsciously  these  visits 
broadened  his  outlook  on  life.  He  was  now  able  to  buy  the 
rare  and  beautiful  books  he  had  always  loved.  Even  when  his 
income  was  small,  the  few  books  he  bought  were  chosen  with  care 
and  he  was  beginning  to  plan  and  develop  in  his  mind  the  scope 
of  his  future  library.  He  took  infinite  pains  in  the  selection  of 
any  book  or  picture,  and  his  perseverance  was  remarkable.  For 
years  he  was  on  the  lookout  for  Wakefield' s  ' '  History  of  the 
War,"  and  at  last,  in  1902,  he  was  rewarded  and  became  the  pos- 
sessor of  the  little  old  yellow  book  that  had  aroused  his  enthus- 
iasm as  a  boy. 

He  became  interested  in  fine  publications  and  illustrations  and 
gradually  collected  a  rare  library  on  architecture,  music  and 
painting,  besides  general  literature  and  history.  Librarians  have 
expressed  interest  in  his  library  on  account  of  its  extent  and 
range.  Though  guarding  his  books  with  zealous  care,  he  was 
ever  willing  to  loan  them  to  any  one  studying  a  special  subject, 
aiding  them  also  by  his  own  extensive  knowledge. 

After  buying  a  few  etchings  in  1898  in  New  York,  he  became 

47 


interested  in  the  subject  and  in  time  came  to  own  a  valuable  col- 
lection of  works  by  the  best  known  etchers,  besides  almost  every 
book  on  etching.  He  mastered  the  literature  and  technical  crit- 
icism of  the  subject  in  the  same  thorough  manner  as  he  mastered 
everything  he  undertook. 

Mr.  Putnam  commenced  early  in  life  to  buy  paintings,  chiefly 
small  good  examples  of  modern  artists.  He  writes  on  June  9th, 
1891,  "  I  want  to  add  to  my  collection  of  paintings  every  year, 
laying  the  foundations  for  the  Art  Gallery  I  intend  to  have  in 
my  Castle  in  Spain  when  I  build  it."  His  art  gallery  was  a 
dream  unfulfilled  for  himself,  but  by  the  provisions  of  his  will  it 
will  become  a  reality  for  the  town  he  loved. 

Mr.  Putnam  always  looked  forward  to  a  time  of  leisure  in 
which  he  could  do  the  writing  he  planned.  His  extensive  knowl- 
edge of  western  history,  with  his  accurate  mode  of  thought  and 
expression,  makes  it  a  matter  of  deep  regret  that  the  only  histor- 
ical writing  preserved  is  a  short  paper  on  ' '  Davenport  and  Vicin- 
ity in  the  War  of  181 2,"  written  in  1877,  and  read  before  the 
historical  section  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences.  He 
wrote  a  memoir  of  his  father,  Charles  E.  Putnam,  in  1898,  pub- 
lished in  Proceedings  of  the  Academy,  and  three  papers  for  the 
Contemporary  Club,  composed  of  the  leading  business  and  pro- 
fessional men  of  Davenport.  The  titles  of  the  papers  show  the 
trend  of  his  thought  toward  some  of  the  questions  of  the  day: 

1898.      "  Some  Problems  of  Modern  Democracy." 

1902.     "  Civic  Beauty." 

1905.  "  International  Arbitration  and  the  Peace  Movement." 
He  possessed  a  clear,  forceful  style  and  a  good  command  of  the 
English  language. 

As  the  years  went  on,  his  interest  in  public  affairs  steadily 
increased.  No  question  came  up  affecting  the  public  welfare  of 
Davenport  but  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  it  and  went  to  consid- 
erable personal  sacrifice  to  achieve  the  end  in  view  if  it  was  for 
the  betterment  of  the  city.  Never  did  his  faith  waver  in  the 
future  of  Davenport.  He  had  high  ideals  and  believed  in  plan- 
ning and  building  for  the  future.  The  great  fault,  he  felt,  of  the 
average  citizen,  was  in  letting  franchises  or  laws  pass  unnoticed 
if  they  did  not  happen  to  affect  his  personal  interest  or  pocket- 
book.     It  was  only  a  very  few  who  ever  troubled  themselves  to 


protest  or  be  on  the  lookout  for  the  best  interests  of  the  city.  He 
himself  took  a  deep  interest  in  municipal  affairs,  especially  in  the 
city's  parks  and  public  institutions.  Referring  to  the  park  sys- 
tem of  Boston,  Mr.  Putnam  writes :  "Every  one  of  us  should  lay 
the  lesson  of  that  noble  work  to  our  hearts  and  do  what  we  can 
to  make  the  city  of  our  home  the  better  and  the  more  beautiful 
for  our  having  lived  in  it." 

There  are  copies  of  frequent  letters  written  by  Mr.  Putnam  to 
our  United  States  senator  about  public  affairs,  especially  protest- 
ing against  the  tariff  on  works  of  art.  He  felt  that  America 
needed  all  the  art  and  beauty  that  could  be  imported  to  counter- 
act our  commercial  spirit.  When  urged  to  help  in  the  endow- 
ment of  an  eastern  institution,  he  replied  that  whatever  he  did 
for  art  would  be  done  in  his  native  town.  Here  he  hoped  there 
might  be  a  gallery,  small  but  with  a  few  choice  paintings.  In 
1898  he  was  interested  in  selecting  pictures  and  bas  reliefs  to 
decorate  the  two  upper  rooms  in  the  grammar  school  attended  by 
many  members  of  the  family.  In  1905  he  gave  a  full-sized  frieze 
of  Donatello's  "  Children"  to  the  Public  Library  for  the  child- 
ren's room.  He  also  loaned  them  his  carefully  selected  collection 
of  a  hundred  large  Braun  photographs  of  the  most  famous  paint- 
ings by  artists  of  all  countries  and  ages,  framed  and  labeled. 

Mr.  Putnam  was  seldom  away  from  Davenport.  A  boyhood 
journey  to  the  Centennial,  various  business  trips  and  one  Euro- 
pean tour  complete  the  record  of  his  journeys.  His  life  is  an 
example  of  steady  application  to  business  and  shows  how,  with 
few  opportunities  of  travel,  can  come  the  love  of  the  best  in  art, 
music  and  literature.  His  only  trip  abroad  was  in  1903  when 
for  seven  months  he  travelled,  with  his  sister,  through  the  prin- 
cipal cities  and  countries  of  Europe.  In  looking  back  one  real- 
izes the  reason  of  his  intense  enthusiasm  and  desire  to  see  places 
of  interest.  For  years  he  had  worked  perseveringly  and  read  ex- 
tensively and  now  when  his  holiday  came  he  enjoyed  it  with  the 
zest  of  a  boy.  Europe  was  never  visited  by  a  more  appreciative 
or  intelligent  visitor.  His  familiarity  with  history,  his  love  of 
architecture,  painting  and  sculpture,  his  interest  in  people,  cus- 
toms, and  the  different  institutions  of  the  countries  made  the  trip 
a  memorable  one.  He  considered  this  the  beginning  of  many 
journeys.     It  was  his  only  one. 

49 


From  his  early  interest  in  the  Historical  section,  Mr.  Putnam 
became  more  interested  in  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences. 
The  untiring  work  for  this  institution  of  his  brother  Duncan,  de- 
votedly supported  by  his  father  and  mother,  all  tended  to  influ- 
ence a  man  of  such  loyal  character  as  his  to  take  up  the  work  as 
one  by  one  they  laid  it  down.  There  was  a  deep  and  peculiar 
attachment  between  Clement  Putnam  and  his  mother,  and  it  was 
for  her  sake  especially  he  did  so  much  for  the  Davenport  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences.  Even  as  a  student  at  the  law  school  he  writes, 
urging  that  the  affairs  of  the  Academy  be  established  on  "a  sound 
financial  basis."  After  the  death  of  his  father  he  succeeded  to 
his  position  of  looking  after  the  finances  of  the  Academy,  a  posi- 
tion to  which  there  were  no  rival  claimants.  When  the  treasury 
was  empty  Mr.  Putnam,  like  his  father,  advanced  the  money  to 
pay  the  bills,  ever  anxious  that  the  credit  of  the  Academy  should 
stand  unimpaired. 

During  the  years  from  1876  to  1880  he  took  a  keen  interest  in 
the  Historical  Section  of  the  Academy.  He  felt  that  the  study 
of  local  history  and  the  collection  in  its  archives  of  local  his- 
torical material  should  be  an  important  feature  of  the  Academy 
work.  In  his  report  as  secretary  of  the  Historical  Section,  on 
January  7th,  1880,  he  speaks  of  the  gift  of  the  papers  of  Antoine 
L,eClaire,  "many  of  them  of  the  greatest  value  and  importance 
in  illustrating  the  early  history  of  this  region,  and  quite  a  num- 
ber of  old  French  papers  of  great  interest.  It  is  out  of  such  ma- 
terial as  this  that  the  historian  weaves  his  interesting  narrative, 
and  the  value  of  these  old  manuscript  collections  cannot  be  too 
deeply  appreciated.  There  have  been  deposited,  in  the  library  of 
the  Section,  files  of  New  York  papers  published  during  the  late 
war,  and  twenty-two  volumes  of  the  Davenport  Gazette  from  its 
commencement.  Next  in  order  to  collections  of  manuscripts, 
newspaper  files  are  of  great  utility  as  historical  material.  But  by 
far  the  most  important  work  of  this  past  year  was  the  series  of 
meetings  of  the  old  settlers  of  this  county,  held  during  the  spring 
and  summer  at  the  Academy.  As  a  result  of  these  meetings  and 
of  circulars  sent  among  the  pioneer  settlers  still  living,  a  large  num- 
ber of  letters  giving  interesting  narratives  of  early  days  have  been 
sent  to  the  president  of  the  Section;  others  have  been  promised, 
and  when  the  whole  series  has  been  completed  it  will  form  a  store- 

50 


house  filled  with  information  which  must  otherwise  have  been 
lost." 

Mr.  Putnam  was  Trustee  of  the  Academy  from  1887  to  his 
death,  and  was  on  the  finance  committee  for  fifteen  years.  His 
last  act  was  to  dictate  the  report  of  the  finance  committee  for  the 
annual  meeting,  announcing  that  after  strenuous  efforts  the 
Academy  was  free  from  debt,  and  adding,  "this  is  probably  the 
first  time  since  the  founding  of  the  Academy,  nearly  forty  years 
ago,  that  this  could  be  said,  so  we  feel  that  the  Academy  is  to  be 
congratulated  on  its  splendid  financial  condition ;  but  people  must 
remember  that  this  is  only  a  means  of  accomplishing  still  greater 
ends  in  the  future,  in  developing  the  internal  work  of  the  Acad- 
emy, in  providing  new  cases  and  apparatus  and  assisting  in  the 
important  work  of  the  Academy  in  the  schools."  This  report 
was  dictated  with  difficulty  and  pain.  Loyal  was  he  even  on  his 
deathbed  to  the  trust  he  felt  his  mother  had  left  to  him.  His 
bequest  to  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences  crowns  his  moth- 
er's life  work  for  this  institution. 

In  the  midst  of  enjoyment  and  activity  in  the  present  and  plans 
for  the  future  came  his  first  and  last  illness.  His  strong  will  had 
kept  him  at  work  too  long.  There  were  only  a  few  days  of  ill- 
ness, serious  from  the  first,  with  a  rally  to  dictate  his  reports 
and  give  directions  to  donate  a  large  collection  of  old  and  rare 
Arizona  baskets  to  the  Academy.  His  death  came  on  the  morn- 
ing of  January  thirteenth,  1906. 

Mr.  Putnam  was  a  man  of  strong  personality.  He  combined 
the  thoroughness  and  faculty  of  taking  infinite  pains  with  the 
greatest  persistence  and  pleasure  in  overcoming  all  obstacles. 
Once  started  upon  a  subject,  his  determination  never  let  him  rest 
until  he  had  mastered  it  thoroughly.  In  many  traits  he  reminded 
one  strongly  of  his  mother.  He  had  a  great  desire  to  acquire  in- 
formation from  other  people,  and  possessed  the  power  of  assimi- 
lation, so  that  anything  once  acquired  was  always  useful.  He 
had  keen  judgment  and  appreciation  of  literature,  art  and  music. 
One  might  differ  from  him,  but  he  was  ever  interesting.  He  was 
fearless  in  speech.  He  was  generous  and  ready  to  aid  in  all  good 
causes  and  help  with  counsel  and  personal  interest  in  the  affairs 
of  any  worthy  person.  He  combined  a  great  amount  of  senti- 
ment, which  he  tried  to  conceal,  with  the  clear-headed  views  of  a 

51 


business  man  and  lawyer.  Those  who  knew  him  in  his  own 
home,  surrounded  by  his  books  and  pictures  and  talking  with 
congenial  friends,  felt  to  the  full  the  charm  and  power  of  Mr. 
Putnam. 

His  life,  though  unfinished,  was  more  complete  than  many  a 
a  longer  one.  Wisely  and  clearly  he  laid  his  plans  for  the  future. 
Devoted  to  his  family,  home  and  city,  he  left  his  fortune,  sub- 
ject to  annuities  to  his  brothers  and  sister,  and  his  collection  of 
art,  historical  and  scientific  books,  besides  his  paintings  and 
sculpture,  to  trustees  as  an  endowment  for  the  Davenport  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences,  for  the  benefit  of  "the  citizens  of  this  community 
wherein  my  father  and  mother  so  long  lived  and  labored  for  the 
public  weal." 


52 


WILL  OF  MARY  LOUISA  DUNCAN  PUTNAM 


By  the  will  of  Mary  L,ouisa  Duncan  Putnam  her  estate,  subject 
to  an  annuity  which  was  waived  by  her  daughter,  Elizabeth 
Duncan  Putnam,  and  to  certain  other  obligations  which  were 
assumed  by  her  son,  William  Clement  Putnam,  is  left  to  three 
trustees  for  the  benefit  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences. 
The  trust,  designated  as  the  "Putnam  Memorial  Fund,"  is 
founded  as  a  memorial  to  her  husband,  Charles  Edwin  Putnam, 
and  her  son  Joseph  Duncan  Putnam. 

By  the  terms  of  the  trust  William  Clement  Putnam  is  named  as 
legal  trustee  during  his  life,  his  successors  to  be  chosen  by  her 
surviving  children,  approved  by  the  court,  and,  after  the  death  of 
all  the  children,  directly  by  the  judge  of  the  court.  With  him 
are  to  be  associated  two  other  trustees :  one,  her  daughter,  Eliz- 
abeth Duncan  Putnam,  and  after  her  decease,  one  person  to  be 
chosen  by  the  members  of  the  Publication  Committee  of  the  Dav- 
enport Academy  of  Sciences,  and  the  other,  a  person  to  be  chosen 
by  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Academy,  both  of  the  last  trust- 
ees, when  so  chosen,  to  be  for  a  period  of  three  years.  The 
trustees  of  the  trust  fund  are  to  make  an  annual  report  to  the 
trustees  of  the  Academy.  The  trustees  shall  use  the  net  income 
from  this  trust  fund  as  follows :  Not  to  exceed  ten  (10)  per  cent 
in  any  one  year  may  be  used  for  the  "care  and  preservation  of, 
and  additions  to,  the  collection  of  entomological  specimens  and 
books  made  by  my  said  son,  Joseph  Duncan  Putnam,  and  now  in 
the  building  of  the  said  Academy."  The  balance  of  the  income 
shall  be  used  ' '  for  the  publication  and  distribution  of  the  papers 
and  transactions  of  said  Academy,  which  shall  be  of  scientific,  or 
ethnological,  and  (on  special  occasions  if  deemed  desirable)  of  his- 
torical value  and  interest,  and  assist  in  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge, it  being  my  desire  generally  that  at  least  one  paper  in  each 
volume  published  be  upon  some  entomological  subject."  It  is 
further  provided  that  the  trustees  may  use  a  portion  of  the 
income  of  the  fund,  not  to  exceed  one-fourth  in  any  one  year, 

53 


1 '  toward  the  payment  of  the  salary  of  a  curator  of  said  Academy, 
if  such  use  of  a  portion  of  said  income  in  their  opinion  becomes 
necessary  to  properly  maintain  the  work  of  said  Academy.  But 
I  earnestly  hope  that  the  said  Academy  may  in  the  near  future 
receive  a  sufficiently  large  endowment  from  public-spirited  citi- 
zens, or  others,  to  enable  it  to  properly  carry  on  its  great  work 
aside  from  its  publications,  leaving  the  income  from  this  trust 
fund  to  be  used  solely  for  the  purpose  for  which  the  trust  has 
been  founded." 


54 


WILL  OF  WILLIAM  CLEMENT  PUTNAM 


In  his  will  William  Clement  Putnam  left  his  entire  estate  in 
trust  for  the  benefit  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  nam- 
ing as  trustees  of  the  fund  thus  created  his  brothers,  Henry  St. 
Clair  Putnam,  George  Rockwell  Putnam,  Edward  Kirby  Putnam, 
Benjamin  Risley  Putnam,  and  his  sister,  Elizabeth  Duncan  Put- 
nam. He  provides  first  for  the  settlement  of  his  estate  and  the 
preservation  of  his  business  and  other  property. 

The  homestead,  with  the  personal  property  contained  therein, 
is  given  to  his  sister  during  her  life.  After  her  decease  the  home- 
stead is  to  revert  to  the  estate,  to  be  merged  in  the  trust  fund  and 
the  personal  property  is  to  be  divided  among  relatives,  "except- 
ing however  that  when  such  distribution  of  my  personal  effects 
is  made,  either  upon  written  notice  from  my  said  sister  to  my 
said  Executors  and  Trustees,  or  the  survivors  of  them,  during 
her  lifetime,  or  in  any  event  upon  her  decease,  I  give  and  be- 
queath all  my  art,  historical  and  scientific  books,  together  with 
all  my  oil  and  water  color  paintings,  etchings,  engravings,  draw- 
ings, sculpture  and  other  works  of  art,  to  the  Davenport  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  to  be  kept  in  a  fire-proof  art 
gallery  in  one  of  its  buildings  to  be  built  as  hereinafter  provided, 
and  I  further  direct  that,  after  the  completion  of  such  fire-proof 
art  gallery,  my  collection  of  English  water  colors  shall  be  placed 
therein,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  prevent  the  risk  of  their  destruc- 
tion by  fire,  even  before  title  thereto  may  pass  pursuant  to  the 
above  provisions.  The  gift  of  the  foregoing  books  and  works  of 
art  to  the  said  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences  is  made  upon  the 
express  condition  that  none  of  said  books,  pictures  and  other 
works  of  art,  shall  ever  be  sold  or  disposed  of  by  said  Academy 
or  its  successors." 

Annuities  are  designated  to  be  paid  to  his  four  brothers  and 
sister  in  lieu  of  their  compensation  as  executors  and  trustees, 
and  provision  is  made  for  the  rebuilding,  with  modern  and  fire-proof 
construct  ion,  of  the  buildings  upon  his  business  property.  The  fifth 
paragraph  of  the  will  then  provides  for  the  Academy  as  follows: 
' '  The  balance  remaining  each  year  from  the  net  income  of  all  my 

55 


estate  as  aforesaid,  I  direct  my  .said  Executors  and  Trustees,  or 
the  survivors  of  them,  to  pay  to  the  Trustees  of  the  Putnam  Me- 
morial Fund  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  of  the  City 
of  Davenport,  Iowa,  said  Trustee  and  Board  of  Trustees  being  the 
ones  designated  in  the  Last  Will  and  Testament  of  my  mother, 
Mary  L.  D.  Putnam,  now  deceased,  such  payments  of  income  to 
be  made  as  often  as  my  said  Executors  and  Trustees,  or  their 
survivors,  may  think  best,  but  at  least  annually,  and  all  of  said 
balance  of  the  net  income  arising  from  my  estate  to  be  used  for 
the  benefit  of  the  said  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  or  its  suc- 
cessors, or  otherwise,  upon  the  terms  and  under  the  conditions  in 
the  Seventh  paragraph  of  this  Will  particularly  set  forth." 

The  seventh  paragraph  of  the  will  provides  for  the  permanent 
maintenance  of  the  trust  fund  and  its  use  for  the  benefit  of  the 
Academy  of  Sciences : 

"Seventh.  Subject  to  the  foregoing  provisions  of  this  Will,  and 
as  a  memorial  to  my  beloved  parents,  Charles  Edwin  Putnam, 
and  Mary  L,ouisa  Duncan  Putnam,  deceased,  I  give,  devise,  and 
bequeath  all  of  my  estate,  real,  personal,  and  mixed,  and  wher- 
ever situated,  upon  the  decease  of  the  last  survivor  of  my  broth- 
ers and  sister  hereinbefore  named,  to  the  Trustee,  and  Board  of 
Trustees,  of  the  Putnam  Memorial  Fund,  and  to  his  and  their 
successor  or  successors  in  trust  forever,  as  the  same  are  desig- 
nated in  the  duly  probated  last  will  and  testament  of  my  mother, 
Mary  L,.  D.  Putnam,  deceased,  and  as  the  same  may  be  from  time 
to  time  hereafter  appointed,  elected,  and  qualified,  as  is  in  my 
mother's  said  will  provided,  said  property  and  estate  to  be  held  in 
the  same  manner  in  all  respects  as  is  in  my  mother's  said  will 
directed,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences, 
of  Davenport,  Iowa,  or  its  successors,  and  the  income  therefrom 
arising,  together  with  the  residuary  income  from  my  estate  prior 
to  the  decease  of  all  my  brothers  and  sister  hereinbefore  named 
as  provided  in  the  Fifth  paragraph  of  this  Will,  to  be  used  for 
the  following  purposes  only,  to-wit :  First.  In  the  payment  of 
all  taxes,  insurance,  repairs,  improvements,  and  all  other  expenses 
and  charges  of  whatever  nature  or  description  which  may  be 
from  time  to  time  required  in  the  proper  management  and  care 
of  said  trust  estate,  and  in  the  proper  maintenance  in  first-class 
condition  of  all  property  and  assets  belonging  to  said  trust  estate. 

56 


Second.  In  the  rebuilding  of  any  of  the  buildings  upon  any  of 
the  real  estate  belonging  to  said  trust  fund  whenever  such  rebuild- 
ing may  become  necessary  in  order  to  properly  maintain  or 
increase  the  value  of  such  real  estate.  Third.  In  the  erection 
of  new  buildings  for,  or  additions  to  the  present  buildings  of,  the 
said  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  it  being  my  earnest  desire, 
however,  that  such  building  fund  be  allowed  to  accumulate  until 
it  reaches  at  least  Fifty  Thousand  ($50,000.00)  Dollars,  and  is  in 
any  event  large  enough  to  permit  the  erection  of  a  thoroughly 
satisfactory,  handsome,  and  fire-proof  structure,  which  will  be  in 
the  highest  degree  creditable  and  useful  to  the  said  Academy, 
and  to  the  City  and  State  in  which  it  is  located,  and  which  shall 
contain,  in  addition  to  fire-proof  museum  rooms,  a  fire-proof  art 
gallery  for  the  proper  exhibition  and  preservation  of  works  of 
art  which  shall  be  of  genuine  value  and  merit  only.  Fourth. 
After  providing  as  large  as  possible  a  sinking  fund  each  year  for 
the  erection  of  said  building  or  buildings  of  the  said  Davenport 
Academy  of  Sciences,  or  after  providing  for  the  payment  of  any 
additional  obligations  incurred  in  the  erection  of  such  build- 
ings, the  remainder  of  said  net  income  may  be  used  each  year, 
so  far  as  necessary,  for  the  general  support  and  maintenance  of 
the  said  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  or  its  successor  ;  and 
after  the  erection  of  such  building  or  buildings  the  whole  of  said 
income  may  be  used  if  desired  towards  the  care  and  maintenance 
of  said  building,  museum,  art  gallery,  and  library,  the  support  of 
the  curator  and  other  employees,  the  prosecution  of  the  work  of 
the  Academy,  the  purchase  of  additions  to  its  museum,  library, 
and  art  gallery,  and  the  publication  of  its  proceedings,  and  of 
papers  of  scientific,  or  historical,  value  and  interest,  until  it  shall 
again  become  necessary  to  erect  another  new  building  for  the 
said  Davenport  Academy  of  Sciences,  when  such  portion  as  may 
be  deemed  advisable  of  the  net  income  from  said  trust  estate 
shall  again  be  used  towards  the  establishment  of  another  build- 
ing sinking  fund.  In  the  event  that  the  said  Davenport  Acad- 
emy of  Sciences  shall  ever  cease  to  exist,  and  shall  have  no 
successors  in  the  City  of  Davenport,  then  and  in  that  event  I 
direct  that  the  Trustees  of  the  said  Putnam  Memorial  Fund,  to 
be  chosen  in  such  case  by  the  court  having  probate  jurisdiction 
in  the  City  of  Davenport,  Iowa,  as  provided  in  the  last  will  of 

57 


Mary  L,.  D.  Putnam,  deceased,  shall  proceed  to  execute  and  carry 
out  the  purposes  and  intents  of  the  trusts  in  this  will  provided, 
as  hereinbefore  expressed,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  and,  if  necessary, 
to  found  some  other  institution  in  the  said  City  of  Davenport 
which  shall  as  effectually  and  usefully  as  possible  accomplish 
such  purposes  and  intents,  or  similar  ones  which  shall  be  of  ben- 
eficent use  to  the  citizens  of  this  community  wherein  my  father 
and  mother  so  long  lived  and  labored  for  the  public  weal." 


58 


Reprinted  from  Volume  X, 

Proceedings  of  the  Davenport  Academy 

of  Sciences. 

1907 


